Tondiarpet and Royapuram buck the trend in second wave

Northern region accounts for 20% cases in 2nd wave, compared to 26% in 1st

Tondiarpet and Royapuram are the only zones in the Greater Chennai Corporation that have reported fewer cases per lakh population in the second wave of COVID-19 so far compared to the first wave, an analysis of zone-wise data showed. These two zones in the northern region in Chennai were the worst-affected during the early phase of the first wave. A seroprevalence survey conducted by the National Institute of Epidemiology during the first wave in the second half of July last year showed that 44.2 % and 34.4 % of the surveyed population in Tondiarpet and Royapuram respectively had exposure to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. According to the analysis, 2,424 people per lakh population tested positive for COVID-19 during the first wave in Royapuram. In contrast, 1,943 cases per lakh population have been reported so far during the second wave. These numbers were 2,341 during the first wave and 2,186 during the second wave for the Tondiarpet zone. (Refer to the accompanying infographic on the period and number of cases taken into consideration for the analysis).