As the number of COVID 19 patients who tested positive after coming in contact with an infected person considerably increased in Thiruvananthapuram, the administration has increased the number of containment zones and announced more regulations for the district.
After a food delivery executive from Zomato tested positive in the district, online food delivery services have been banned in the containment zones. All the food delivery staff executives in the city will undergo an antigen test.
"The situation has become worse in the capital. We will increase the number of antigen tests. Thiruvananthapuram is sitting on the top of a volcano," Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who is in charge of the district’s coronavirus containment activities, told the media.
"The food delivery executives used to wait in groups in the streets, that will not be allowed. Also, people go out of their houses without any reason. That shouldn't be done. Please stay at home," minister added.
As of date, Thiruvananthapuram has 40 patients who have been infected through contact, out of which the source of infection of 25 people is unknown. State representatives of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) have stated that community spread is there in Thiruvananthapuram district. But the minister has denied it.
"We take the IMA's observation very seriously. We know we are on the verge of community spread. But if that happens, the government will be first to inform you. We can confirm the community spread only after the primary and secondary contacts of the COVID-19 patients also test positive," the minister said.
He also said that regulations will also be strengthened.
Meanwhile, one more police officer tested positive in the district on Sunday and around 28 officers have been quarantined.
In Poonthura, a medical representative and his father have tested positive. The medical representative had visited many hospitals, medical shops and had met doctors, which is a case that to be taken very seriously, the minister said.
Three new containment zones were added and currently, there are 14 containment zones in Thiruvananthapuram corporation limits. One of the main markets in the city at Palayam — the Saphalyam shopping complex — was shut down after a migrant worker, who worked as a staff member at one of the shops in the complex, tested positive.
Even in Ernakulam, the situation is grim, officials say. Among the 42 patients who were infected through contact, the source of infection of 10 patients is not known.
On Sunday, eight new containment zones were announced in Ernakulam district. There are reports that if more contact cases are reported in the districts, the government plans to impose a triple lockdown. Earlier, Kerala had implemented lockdown in three stages, with each stage more stringent than the previous. If a triple lockdown is implemented, the area will go into a total lockdown and except for stores selling essential goods, everything else will be closed down.
Currently, there are 2,130 active cases in the state.