Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has spoken about tightening restrictions in urban areas where the transmission of COVID-19 has suddenly picked up pace and intensity.
He said here on Tuesday that though Kerala had contained COVID-19 remarkably well till now, laxities in many areas were now surfacing, which were contributing to disease transmission. COVID-19 was naturally seen to spread fast and wild in urban areas across the country, where disease transmission could happen quite fast and to distant areas because of the high density of population and the heavy movement of people.
The situation in the coastal areas in Thiruvananthapuram was quite grave and special interventions would be required there and in a few other areas in the State to contain disease transmission.
He said what had happened in the capital district, resulting in the authorities having to impose a triple lockdown, could not be allowed to happen in Kochi or Kozhikode again.
He said the test positivity rate in Kochi had been found to be much higher than the State average and, hence, COVID-19 testing would be intensified there. There could be no compromise on any of the universal safety precautions such as physical distancing or wearing of masks.
Expressing apprehension about intensifying local transmission of COVID-19, Mr. Vijayan said it was a matter of grave concern for the government that the disease seemed to be spreading in the camps of paramilitary forces in the State. He said 66 jawans of the CISF and 23 army jawans had contracted the disease so far in the State.
He said the families of those persons who recovered from COVID should ensure that these individuals stayed home for another seven days avoiding unnecessary travel.
He warned that legal action would be taken against those who carelessly dispose of their personal protective equipment and gloves at airports.
The number of persons under State surveillance and quarantine is 1,83,576, of whom 3,034 with mild COVID-like symptoms are isolated in hospitals . The number of samples tested in the last 24 hours is 7,516.
