The man from Karakurissi near Mannarkkad in the district who was tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday has posed a threatening puzzle for the health authorities and the district administration. The police registered a case against him for deliberately endangering society by ignoring laws.
The 51-year-old man is believed to have had interaction with hundreds of people even after he contracted the virus causing COVID-19. He is suspected to have contracted the virus from Saudi Arabia, where he had visited on Umra pilgrimage.
He is believed to have roamed around for over a week without any control even after returning from Jeddah on March 13. He visited several mosques and two hospitals. The district administration, after a rough estimation, said that he could have interacted with at least 300 people.
Flouting the instructions given by the Health Department that all passengers coming from abroad should remain in home quarantine, the man in question had visited several public places after he landed at Karipur airport on March 13.
He attended mass Juma prayers at Karakkunnu Juma Masjid near Karakurissi on March 13 and 20. He attended group prayers at Anakkaparamba Aisha Masjid five times almost every day. He visited a tailor shop, a vegetable shop and a grocery shop at Mannarkkad.
He visited Darussalam Orphanage at Karakurissi and a mosque at Viyyakurissi. He also entertained several visitors at his house. He had sought treatment for cough and other body discomfort twice at Government Taluk Hospital and Cooperative Hospital, Mannarkkad.
He was forcibly put under quarantine by the health and police authorities after local people complained.
Seven of his relatives who had had close interaction with him are currently in quarantine. The fact that his son, who is a KSRTC bus conductor, had attended duty a few times after interacting with him has given a shock to the district administration.
His son had attended duty on KSRTC bus from Mannarkkad to Coimbatore and later to Thiruvananthapuram. KSRTC has prepared detailed sketches of those bus routes.
District Collector D. Balamurali said here on Thursday that more stringent measures would be clamped in Mannarkkad area as two cases were reported from there. Stringent laws are being enforced in Pattambi taluk also.
