Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram will be under ‘triple lockdown’ from Monday, to contain the spread of COVID-19. Of the 27 new cases reported on Sunday, 22 had contracted the disease through contact. There are now 130 active cases in the district.
Starting at 6 am from Monday, Thiruvananthapuram Corporation will be under lockdown for a week. All roads to the city will be closed, state police chief Loknath Behera informed. Vehicle movement will not be allowed on any roads in the city.
Only hospitals, medical shops and grocery shops under the Corporation can remain open. No government office, including the Secretariat, will function during this time. The Chief Minister's office would function from the official residence.
Triple lockdown is a three-phased COVID-19 containment strategy, which was followed in Kasaragod district in April. This strategy involves three stages, or ‘locks’. In the first stage, strict lockdown will be enforced in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation limit. Vehicles and persons will not be allowed to enter or exit the Corporation limit.
The second stage will be implemented in a cluster area, where COVID-19 cases have been reported. Since these areas contain primary and secondary contacts, a lockdown will prevent further spread to neighbouring areas.
As part of the third stage, the lockdown will be implemented in the houses of persons diagnosed with COVID-19. This stage is critical to prevent community spread.
When a triple lockdown is enforced in an area, no vehicle will be allowed to ply, residents will be allowed to exit the house only to buy essentials or in case of an emergency. Violators will be either sent back home or penalised. When the triple lockdown was introduced in Kasaragod in April, the police also home-delivered groceries and other essentials.
Kasaragod district, with the help of police, was able to bring down the number of COVID-19 cases by May.
This decision comes after more containment zones were added to Thiruvananthapuram.
Terming the city as a ‘volcano’, Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran said that the situation is becoming worse in Thiruvananthapuram. The Minister, who is in charge of COVID-19 containment in the capital city, said that the administration will ramp up the antigen testing, especially after a food delivery executive tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
Several public spaces like Saphalyam complex and Palayam Connemara markets were shut after positive cases emerged in the area.
On Monday, 225 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in the state while 126 others under have recovered. Currently, 2,228 patients are undergoing treatment for COVID-19 in Kerala, while there have been 3,174 recoveries.
Police will be on duty on all the important spots and roads in the capital city. For any help, contact the following numbers:
> Police control room - 112
> Thiruvananthapuram city police control room - 0471 2335410, 2336410, 2337410
> State police chief's control room - 0471 2722500, 9497900999
> State Covid Control Room - 9497900121, 9497900112