The district administration has decided to clamp total lockdown in the city on April 26 and May 3 after increasing incidences of violation. All shops will remain closed and residents should not come out of their homes for any reason. Medical emergencies are exempted and hospitals and pharmacies will remain open.
Although official machinery is taking a range of measures to enforce lockdown, people continue to visit markets and other places without protective equipment. Also, youth have been found roaming the streets without masks.
The violations showed a slight decline when police seized vehicles and registered cases and the Corporation cracked the whip against those without masks.
To intensify the measure further, the Corporation has introduced three types of ‘colour cards’ that allows residents to come out of their houses only twice a week to buy essential commodities.
The green (Monday and Thursday), blue (Tuesday and Friday) and red (Wednesday and Saturday) cardholders can shop between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. The card-bearer should carry identity proof and be above 15 and below 60 years of age. They should strictly follow physical distancing or else the card will be cancelled, the Corporation has warned.
While police personnel have been deployed in temporary vegetable markets and meat stalls to ensure physical distancing, there is disarray when the crowd swells. The colour card system has been effective to some extent and in a bid to fine-tune it further, Collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish has ordered cent per cent closure of all shops, except pharmacies and hospitals, on April 26 and May 3.
“Shops will not be allowed to open on the two days. Hence, residents should buy essential commodities on previous days mentioned on their colour card. This is being done to ensure physical distancing, which is essential to check spread of COVID-19. Hence, we appeal to everyone to remain indoors,” Corporation Commissioner G. Kannan has said.
