The Corporation has temporarily cancelled the licence of two major hypermarkets in the city over alleged violation of COVID-19 protocols.
Mayor K. Sreekumar announced on Monday that the owners of the Pothys Mall, near Ayurveda College Junction, and Ramachandran Supermarket, Attakulangara, were asked to close down.
The drastic action was taken after health officials found a person who was advised to go in quarantine after the first round of tests working in the sales department when the officials visited Pothys on Monday.
Tests conducted
“We began conducting tests on Pothys employees two days go. On the first day, one person tested positive and on the second day, one more person tested positive. We advised their contacts to go in quarantine.
On Monday, the tests for the rest of the employees were scheduled to be held on the top floor of Pothys. We found one of the employees whom we had asked to go in quarantine working in one of the sections. He is a direct contact of the person who tested positive,” said health supervisor Prakash.
The Mayor said that Pothys and Ramachandran had failed to comply with the COVID-19 protocols strictly despite reminders.
“We saw how around 100 cases were reported from Ramachandran due to failure to follow the protocols. Both these establishments have caused an increase in the spread of the virus. There is also the possibility of people who had visited these places having contracted the virus.
Hence, the Corporation has decided to cancel the licences of both these shopping centres temporarily,” said Mr. Sreekumar.
Cramped hostels
Vanchiyoor P. Babu, councillor of the Vanchiyoor ward where hostels for Pothys employees are located, said there have been complaints from the local people that some employees who had returned from their native States had not been strictly following quarantine conditions and have been living together in cramped spaces.
Retained in shop
“We started testing the employees because of these complaints. Health workers complained that they are not sending everyone for tests, with many being retained in the shop so that their functioning is not affected.
The Corporation has taken a serious view of the fact that they have not brought in any controls even after the first positive case was reported. The tests were conducted at the building itself today so that all employees are covered,” said Mr. Babu.
