Kerala’s largest shopping mall Lulu Mall has been shut reportedly after 10 employees tested positive for coronavirus. The Ernakulam District Administration has declared the Lulu Mall in Kochi’s Edappally a containment zone now.
The mall will be temporarily closed till further notice, the Lulu Mall officials announced the news on its official Facebook page. It was on Tuesday that reportedly 10 employees of the mall were diagnosed with COVID-19.
Replying to some queries on social media following the announcement, the officials of the mall said that there is no panic situation and that officials of the Health Department will contact those people “who are likely to be affected”.
After the lockdown was lifted, the mall was re-opened to the public in July. But the same month, Lulu Mall was closed again as the ward number 34 of the Kalamassery municipality, where the mall is located, was declared a containment zone. The mall was again reopened on August 9.
Stringent safety precautions had been taken when Lulu Mall was opened for the public following the lockdown. From automatic sanitisers to measures to sanitise footwear and baggage, many precautions were being followed. The details of all customers who enter the mall were also being collected as per the guidelines.
Ernakulam, like many districts in Kerala, has been seeing a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases. In the last two days alone, 1,030 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the district. At present, 4,345 patients are under treatment for COVID-19 in Ernakulam. Of this, 1,642 people are under home care in their own houses, said the Ernakulam District Information Office (DIO).
There has also been a rise in the number of medical workers and others associated with hospitals testing positive for the virus. On Wednesday alone, 17 people associated with various hospitals in Ernakulam, including medical staff and drivers, tested positive for the disease.
Watch visuals of Lulu Mall while it reopened after lockdown: