Growth rate of new infections in city stands at -1.6%

CHENNAI: With the daily number of new COVID-19 cases in the city dipping below 600, all the Corporation zones have less than 500 active cases now.

According to the data released by the Greater Chennai Corporation, the overall average growth rate of new cases for the last seven days till Wednesday was at -1.6 per cent. Among the 15 zones of the city, as many as 10 zones have registered a negative growth rate of new cases.

Zones such as Madhavaram, Alandur, Tondiarpet, Perungudi and Tiruvottiyur have positive growth rates.

The number of active cases in the city has come down further to 5,750, on Wednesday, which is around 3 per cent of the total cases reported. Also, more than 1.97 lakh persons were discharged from hospitals and home quarantine.

Despite the growth rate being -1.6 per cent, when compared to -2.4 per cent during the third week of October, all the zones, except Alandur, have less than 3 per cent active cases. As many as five zones, including Tondiarpet and Royapuram, have one per cent active cases and zones like Anna Nagar, Kodambakkam have 2 per cent active cases.

Manali and Sholinganallur have less than 100 active cases with 52 and 75 active cases respectively. With 452 active cases, Anna Nagar has the highest number of active cases and the zone is the only zone with over 400 active cases.

On the other hand, 3,734 persons had died due to COVID-19, which is 1.81 per cent mortality rate.

“We are testing over 10,000 samples every day and the positivity rate has come down to 6 to 7 per cent. The city has been opened and due to the festival season, several residents do shopping. We are taking measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 from shopping hubs,” an official said.