‘Survey Safe If Precautions Are Followed'

Surveyors should wear masks and maintain physical distance, say health experts

- Aloysius Xavier Lopez & Serena Josephine M.

After a section of residents expressed apprehensions that the deployment of 16,000 workers of the Chennai Corporation to carry out a COVID-19 symptoms survey might actually cause the disease to spread, public health experts clarified that as long as physical distance was maintained, and masks used, there was no risk.

V. Ramasubramanian, consultant, Infectious Diseases, Apollo Hospitals, said that as long as anyone maintained a three-foot distance, the infection would not spread. “If this distance is maintained, there is absolutely no reason to worry. The surveyors should wear masks, even cloth masks are good enough. Then, there is no risk at all,” he explained.

Of the 16,000 workers, more than 12,000 have been recruited for COVID-19 surveillance work in the last four days without any medical test, and this has residents wondering if the process is safe.