Madurai Pulls Up Its Socks During Lockdown

With fever camps, mobile swab collection units and door-to-door checks, testing facilities shored up in temple city

- Shobana Radhakrishnan

The intensified lockdown in Madurai ends today (Tuesday). But what was the net gain of the phased 20-day lockdown? Especially since this line of attack was not considered as a potent weapon to clamp down on the virus.

According to officials, what the lockdown essentially did was to buy time for the administration. During the intensified lockdown, the number of fever camps increased, and sample test was ramped up. The result was early detection and isolation of Covid-19 cases. Areas under Madurai Corporation, Paravai town panchayat and rural blocks of Madurai East, Madurai West, and Tirupparankundram were placed under intensified lockdown on June 24. What began as an seven-day exercise soon expanded into a 20 - day phased containment.

As per June 23 data, a day before the lockdown, 988 Covid-19 cases (since March) were reported in Madurai. Till June 23, 574 active, 405 discharged and nine deaths had been reported. However, Monday saw the highest single-day spike (464 cases), taking the tally to 6,539. A grim picture is painted when the numbers are broken down. Between June 24 and July 13, 1,515 people were discharged, and 111 had died. As on Monday, the figure stood at 3,803 active cases.

So, what has been the net gain?