The Health Department has taken over several halls and converted them into COVID-19 first-line treatment centres (FLTCs) as the virus infection started showing symptoms of a massive spread in the district.
Among the centres taken over are marriage halls and educational institutions, especially in Tirurangadi, Parappanangadi, Ponnani and Tanur areas.
Peace Auditorium near Chettippadi, Tahlimul Islam Orphanage High School, SNM HSS and PEM School (all at Parappanagadi), PSMO College at Tirurangadi, Darul Huda Islamic University at Chemmad, and Devadhar HSS at Tanur were the new FLTCs. Hundred beds each were being arranged at those centres.
The women’s hostel on Calicut University campus was taken over a few days ago. Seventy infected persons were admitted there.
Speaker P. Sreeramakrishnan visited the FLTCs at Ponnani on Tuesday. Everest Auditorium at Kollampadi, Mass Auditorium at Thrikkavil, MES College Auditorium, MI B.Ed Centre at Puthuponnani were converted into FLTCs at Ponnani, where 113 people had tested positive through local transmission.
Antigen tests were done in 20 of the 51 wards in Ponnani, which is under triple lockdown. Officials said the remaining wards would be covered in the next two days. The lockdown period in Ponnani taluk will be over by Thursday.
Markets closed
The fish markets at Kondotty, Poopalam near Perinthalmanna, and Tirur were closed following detection of COVID-19 in seven workers at Kondotty market.
T.V. Ibrahim, MLA of Kondotty, demanded that rapid tests be conducted more aggressively in Kondotty. The district administration is considering options over containing the area.
The municipal market at Malappuram will remain closed for a week from Wednesday after the virus was detected in a person there.
The Gulf Market at Tirur will be closed for a few days. The closure followed the detection of coronavirus in two trauma care volunteers from the market.
The bridges at Pulamanthol and Tiruvegappura were closed as a massive spread was reported in Pattambi taluk.
Malappuram KSRTC depot was closed after an employee was tested positive for the virus. Officials said the depot would be reopened on Wednesday as nearly four dozen rapid tests conducted among the workers were found negative.
Five members of a family at Tanur were found positive in antigen tests conducted on Tuesday. As many as 11 people in Tanur municipal limits were feared to have contracted the virus through local contacts. Police and revenue authorities have tightened the vigil in the municipal limits.
61 new cases
Sixty-one persons tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in Malappuram district on Tuesday, taking the total number of infected cases currently under treatment to 603. Fifty-one persons in the district recovered from the disease on Tuesday. Twenty-nine of the new cases were found to have contracted the infection through local transmission.
