Commandos Deployed In Thiruvananthapuram To Enforce Lockdown After Super Spread Of COVID-19
Residents of Poonthura, a sleepy fishing village in coastal Thiruvananthapuram witnessed an unusual sight on Wednesday evening after they saw armed commandos walking on their roads.
A team of 25 commandos of the Special Armed Police (SAP) was deployed in?Poonthura?to enforce lockdown amid concerns of a super spread of COVID-19 there.
A super spread indicates the transmission of the virus from one or more persons to a large group of people through primary or secondary contact.
There are fears of a major spread in Poonthura after 119?COVID-19?positive cases were reported from the 600 samples tested in five days.
The original source of the infection is believed to be a wholesale fish dealer at the local Kumarichanda market who tested positive for coronavirus in and had around 120 primary contacts.
Out of this, dozens including autorickshaw drivers, fishermen and their families have tested positive for COVID-19.
Restrictions have been tightened in Poonthura banning entry of people with borders closed. Coastal police have also been instructed to check on people arriving by sea.
As the cluster outbreak continues to grow Kerala Police Chief Loknath Behara said that the Coast Guard, Coastal Security, and Marine Enforcement have been instructed to prevent the boats from fishing in?Poonthura?to Tamil Nadu and vice versa.
"The coastal belt of?Poonthura?was instructed to implement a very strict triple lockdown. SAP Commandant-in-Charge L. Solomon will lead 25 member commandos for special duty in the coastal region," the DGP said.
The district administration will provide all necessary assistance to the people of the region.
Families living in the three wards of Poonthura will receive 5kg of rice for free, while more tests will be conducted in the coming days.
This comes even as parts of the state capital is under a triple lockdown for a week.?
The Lock-I will restrict the movement of all people in the district. The Lock-II will be enforced in hotspots of infection, where people will be mandatorily asked to stay-at-home. And the Lock-III will be enforced in the houses of primary and secondary contacts of COVID-19 patients to be in compulsory room-quarantine.?
This is only the second time Kerala has imposed 'triple lockdown' in any part of the state. In April, a triple lockdown was implemented in Kasargod, when it had the highest number of COVID-19 cases.?
As of Wednesday, Thiruvananthapuram has reported a total of 409 COVID-19 cases, out of which 217 are active.
