Five members of the Legislative Assembly in Kerala, all of whom had attended the current session, have tested positive for COVID-19.
Legislators K. Ansalan (Neyyattinkara) and K.D. Dasan (Koyilandy) are admitted to the government medical college hospital here, while E.S. Bijimol (Peerumade) and M. Mukesh (Kollam) are said to be in home isolation. Unconfirmed reports said Vamanapuram MLA D.K. Murali has also tested positive.
All these MLAs had attended the Assembly session which began on January 8. Minister for Cultural Affairs A.K. Balan, who had tested positive earlier, is still convalescing. The Budget session is expected to go on till January 22. The session, which was earlier planned till January 28, was cut short by the Speaker, considering the COVID-19 situation.
Indoor gatherings are considered to be the highest risk factor for COVID-19 spread and disease transmission occurs faster and far and wide in air-conditioned environment.
It has been noticed that most MLAs either wear their masks on their chin or the masks are pulled down every time one rises to speak, which can be quite risky behaviour, it is pointed out.
