Thiruvananthapuram coastal areas to be under complete lockdown from midnight

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The district administration on Saturday clamped a complete lockdown for 10 days in the coastal areas of Thiruvananthapuram from Saturday midnight to contain the spread of COVID-19. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that community spread had occurred in Poonthura and Pulluvila and its nearby places have seen a rapid increase in the number of contact cases.

The district administration has decided that it was "high time" to take stringent action and impose triple lockdown to contain the spread of the virus by imposing a total movement restriction in the critically infected areas.

The district's coastal area stretching from Edava in the north to Pozhiyoor in the south has been declared as Critical Containment Zone (CCZ) and will be under complete and strict lockdown from Saturday midnight to July 28 midnight, an order from the district Collector Dr Navjot Khosa said. 

The existing lockdown relaxations shall not be applied and strict lockdown measures shall be in force for a 10-day period, the order stated. Over 1,515 live cases are being treated in various hospitals in the district as on date and epidemiological investigation has been carried out in each and every case and their primary and secondary contacts have been traced for effective containment of the disease's further transmission, she said.

The district has been divided into three zones, with three IAS officers functioning as 'Incident Commanders' who will oversee implementation of zone-wise cluster containment and intervention strategies. Movement of people within or out of these zones would not be allowed and the police should strictly enforce this, the collector stated.

A toll-free number would be provided to the people to raise their grievances. The Civil Supplies department has been directed to provide 5 kg rice and one kg of pulses to all families in the CCZs, while Horticorp will ensure regular supply of fruits and vegetables in these areas and MILMA's dairy plant in Thiruvananthapuram will ensure supply of milk at selected checkposts from where it would be lifted by agents for sales within the containment zones.

No bank or NBFC will function in Critical Containment Zone. However, banks should ensure that ATMs are refilled.

(With PTI inputs)