STATES OF ALARM

The easing of lockdown restrictions in Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Gujarat, among the states worst-affected by Covid, is fraught with high risk. How prepared are they?

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TAMIL NADU

Stepping up the Vigil

CASES 25,872

DEATHS 208

(JUNE 3)

Unlock 1.0 could be grim for Tamil Nadu, a state that witnessed a near ten-fold jump in Covid cases last month—from 2,323 in April to 22,333 on May 31. With 145 deaths reported through May, even the mortality rate surged to five times that of the earlier period. The only consolation perhaps is that at 0.7 per cent, Tamil Nadu’s mortality rate is well below the national average of 2.8 per cent and of other large states such as Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The worry now is the continuing spread of Covid in northern Chennai and its contiguous districts, which are densely populated and house much of the state’s industries. More than half the ‘active’ Covid cases are in Chennai, which also accounts for maximum deaths, and the Greater Chennai Corporation zones of Royapuram, Kodambakkam and Thiru. Vi Ka Nagar and Teynampet are among the hotspots within Chennai. With a sharp rise in cases over the past few days, the doubling rate is now less than a week. The national average is about 14 days.