Ernakulam market infection spreads to Thoppumpady

Trader from Thoppumpady and three family members test positive for SARS-CoV-2; full lockdown imposed in the area

Kochi/Kerala,01/7/2020.: The Ernakulam main retail and wholesale market has been closed after three people tested positive for Covid19. Photo: H. Vibhu/The Hindu.

Thoppumpady, Division 11 of the Kochi Corporation, was declared a containment zone on Wednesday after a resident who is a trader with a godown near the Ernakulam market and three of his family members tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.

A total of nine cases can now be traced back to the area around the Ernakulam market. A 43-year-old resident of Pachalam is the fourth staffer of an electrical shop in the area to test positive for the virus. The 66-year-old resident of Thoppumpady has a godown located close to the electrical shop and runs another establishment on T.D. Road. Three of his family members and a 22-year-old employee of the same establishment also tested positive on Wednesday.

A full lockdown will be imposed at Thoppumpady from Wednesday midnight onwards, and only essential services will be allowed within the containment zone. Swabs of 26 persons from the Ernakulam market area have been collected and sent for testing.

Twelve persons tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in the district on Wednesday. They include the three-year-old son and 38-year-old wife of a Nayarambalam native who tested positive on June 21. Further, a 56-year-old resident of Vallarpadam who returned from Kuwait, a 34-year-old native of Arakuzha who returned from Riyadh and is pregnant, a 24-year-old native of Kavalangad who returned from Delhi by flight, and a 43-year-old who arrived from Karnataka by road tested positive.

At Marine Drive

Wholesale traders of the Ernakulam market set up their wares in the parking area near Marine Drive for a few hours on Wednesday morning after the market itself was shut when the area was declared a containment zone. C.J. George, Ernakulam Market Stall Owners Association, said permission had been granted to traders by the district administration to dispose of their existing stock of perishables and supplies that arrived on Wednesday morning. But in the absence of effective monitoring, the situation went out of hand, and physical distancing norms were violated, he added.

While traders have not placed orders for any more supplies yet, they are awaiting directions on whether facilities can be arranged for them elsewhere, Mr. George said.

Meanwhile, district administration sources said it was a measure that was allowed only on Wednesday, and that no other arrangements would be made for traders since that would defy the purpose of having set up a containment zone.