Seventy-eight staff members of a popular shop (hypermarket) in Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram tested positive for the novel coronavirus over the last two days, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday. It is believed that scores of people have visited the shop over the last few days.
The shop ‘Ramachandran’, a textiles store and supermarket, located at Attakulangara, is a popular shopping destination in the city. The shop is located close to the Chalai market and East Fort.
Sixty-one workers of the shop had tested positive on Wednesday, while on Thursday, 17 more were found to have COVID-19.
“This is a serious situation. More results of tests conducted from the staff are yet to come. Hundreds of people from various parts of the district have daily come to the shop. To find out all these people and conduct tests is a difficult task,” said CM Pinarayi.
He cautioned people who have visited the shop in recent days and urged them to contact health workers.
“If this massive disease spread has occurred in a shop, how dangerous it will be in society. People who have visited the shop in the past days should come out voluntarily and undergo tests,” said the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister added that many Tamil Nadu natives also work in the shop. The firm has similar outlets in the city and this increases the risk of transmission, the Chief Minister noted.
Thiruvananthapuram district has the highest number of people with COVID-19 on Thursday. Out of the 339 people who tested positive, 301 got the disease through local transmission.
With 722 people testing positive for the disease in Kerala, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in total (including those who have recovered and are under treatment) has crossed the 10,000-mark in the state. The number of patients under treatment as of Thursday is 5,378. With the death of two more patients, the total death count is at 38, while 4,864 patients have recovered so far.
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