Chennai’s Koyambedu market, which is one of the largest perishable market complexes in Asia, has now emerged as a cause for extreme concern for the government of Tamil Nadu. Not only has the market emerged as one of the hotspots for COVID-19 in the state, the open nature of the complex, in which hundreds from across Tamil Nadu work and visit, has complicated the process of tracing and containing the infection from spreading further.
On Monday, Tamil Nadu reported 527 new cases of COVID-19, the highest single-day jump so far. The total number of cases in the state as of Monday is 3,550, and of this, hundreds are believed to have contracted the infection, directly or indirectly, from the Koyambedu cluster. Ninety persons from Chennai were confirmed of having COVID-19 on Monday. From the districts that have provided disaggregated data, we know that at least 300 patients are from the Koyambedu cluster. And the state government has given various district administrations, the names of 8,000 people who had travelled to Koyambedu market – to trace and quarantine all of them.
Speaking to TNM about this cluster, a senior official with the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) which administers Koyambedu market area, said that it is difficult to trace those who have visited the market in the past few days. “People from across the state come and buy vegetables or work here in the market every day. Hence it is challenging for us to find everyone who has visited the market for any purpose in the last few days,” the officer said, on the condition of anonymity.
The market has around 2000 shops, both wholesale and retail, that sell vegetables, fruits and flowers. On an average at least 15000 people visit the market in a day. However, since the lockdown in the past few days, only around 120 shops are kept open for business, according to a source in the market.
The state administration has, as of Monday morning, been coordinating with the district administrations to track and trace all those who had visited the busy marketplace in the last few days. “We have given a list of people who have travelled from Koyambedu to various districts and they are working to trace them and test them. Many people have been placed in quarantine also in various districts,” J Radhakrishnan, Special Nodal Officer for COVID-19 Monitoring and Control, Chennai Corporation told reporters on Monday.
Though Chennai has identified other clusters of infections like Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, and VR Pillai street in Triplicane, the Koyambedu market cluster has caused great concern to the officials due to the sheer magnitude of the operations.
The first two cases of COVID-19 from Koyambedu area were confirmed between April 24 and 28 – a female vegetable seller who had attended an event in Pulianthope and a 36-year-old male hairdresser who runs a barber shop in Koyambedu. Since then, the number of cases have been steadily increasing in and around the market area. The hairdresser alone had visited 10-15 customers every day at their homes to offer his services, making contact tracing a tricky affair.
However, it was only on April 29 that the CMDA banned the retail sale of vegetables, fruits and flowers in the Koyambedu market area, in an attempt to reduce the number of people visiting the market. And for two days after that, the market was still open for wholesale trade. It was only on May 1 that the CMDA ordered the fruit and flower sellers to shift to the Madhavaram bus terminus, to reduce congestion in the area.
Thirty six persons in Ariyalur district have been confirmed to have COVID-19 after they visited Koyambedu market, and hundreds are being identified and quarantined. Similarly, the Perambalur district administration has confirmed 23 cases of COVID-19 from the Koyambedu cluster as of Monday evening and have also traced and quarantined 600 persons who had visited the market in the last few days.
Villupuram has confirmed 76 patients who have been tested positive for COVID-19, who had returned from Koyambedu recently. The district officials have also identified and quarantined around 460 persons in relation to this cluster. Similarly, 129 persons in Cuddalore district have been confirmed to have COVID-19 in relation to this cluster.
Some district administrations like Kanyakumari and Thoothukudi have issued advisories requesting those who had visited Koyambedu market to voluntarily inform the officials and get tested.
“For now nine persons have come forward saying that they have been to Koyambedu and their samples have been sent for testing. We are awaiting their results,” Prashant M Wadnere, the District Collector of Kanyakumari told TNM.
Sandeep Nanduri, the District Collector of Thoothukudi said that while nobody who visited Koyambedu has tested positive yet in the district, the administration is working to trace all those who had visited based on the list given by the state government.
According to a senior official in the government of Tamil Nadu, around 2000 persons in Chennai have been placed under quarantine as of Monday evening in relation to the Koyambedu cluster.
The senior officer from CMDA said that those who had visited the market flouted norms, thus making the spread easy. “Even when they come here to buy produce or to work, they rarely followed the rules like wearing a face mask, or physical distancing. We have been constantly telling people to adopt preventive measures proactively,” he added.
J Radhakrishnan also emphasised this in his press meets after he was appointed as the Special Nodal Officer. While stressing on the importance to wear masks and follow impeccable hygiene after reaching home from outside, he said that people must not lower their masks while talking to others. “Since we are doing focussed testing, the numbers will be high. Hence others need not panic, but they should not be careless either,” he added, on Monday.
Senior officers in the Corporation and CMDA have also reportedly recommended closing of the market completely and declaring it a containment zone to prevent further spreading of the virus among the population. Based on the recommendation, the district administration has announced temporary closure of the market complex from Tuesday. A temporary set up for wholesale trade of vegetables will be organised in Thirumazhisai, as per the officials.
(With inputs from Anjana Shekar and Priyanka Thirumurthy)