There was no plan for imposing a triple lockdown in Kochi despite the COVID-19 situation turning worse, said Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar on Monday. “We are not thinking in terms of a triple lockdown now,” he said after attending a meeting in Aluva to discuss the situation at the Aluva market where an autorickshaw driver tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on Sunday.
The meeting was attended by representatives of merchants’ associations and other stakeholders. The Minister said that Champakkara and Aluva wholesale markets would be reopened on Tuesday after disinfecting them.
Police and fire force personnel had begun disinfection works from the early hours of Monday, market sources said.
Nazeer Babu, president of Aluva Merchants’ Association, said that merchants were ready to abide by safety norms.
The Minister said that since the Ernakulam market was already closed down, it was not possible now to keep the Aluva market shut. However, there would be no retail sale in Aluva. It was retail sale that drew large crowd, he said.
The market plays a central role in supplying goods to retail traders because there were no big markets in the northern periphery of the city. The Aluva market caters for a large geographical area that go up to the border of Ernakulam with Thrissur.
Traders at the market have agreed to close wholesale business at 6 a.m. Lorries bringing goods would not be allowed to roam around. All payments would be complete by 7 a.m.
The Minister said that the situation would be watched closely for the coming two days and the market would be closed if safety norms were not being followed.
