Stickers on houses of the quarantined in Thiruvananthapuram

Geo-fencing too possible, says Minister

March 27, 2020 11:17 pm | Updated December 03, 2021 06:40 am IST - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

The sticker was released on Friday.

The sticker was released on Friday.

The district administration has commenced pasting stickers on the houses of those quarantined in a bid to rein in the violation of the guidelines enforced by the government to contain the COVID-19 outbreak.

The move comes in the wake of widespread complaints of people violating quarantine and frequenting public places despite being told to remain indoors. The stickers launched for the purpose were formally released by Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Friday. The Minister said the possibilities of adopting geo-fencing techniques would also be explored to ensure that those quarantined did not wander beyond a particular perimeter.

He said the district authorities had identified 7,290 hospital beds in government-run hospitals, 4,200 beds in private hospitals, 725 intensive care units, and 300 ventilators for treatment of those infected.

 

He said the wellbeing of around 600 migrant labourers involved in the construction of a shopping mall in Akkulam had been ascertained by the Labour Department. The Collector directed commercial establishments to enforce social distancing on their premises. Customers should submit lists of the commodities and collect them outside the shops, so as to avoid crowding inside shops.

Three shops closed

The district administration cautioned traders against hoarding and other malpractices. Three shops in the district were ordered to close down on Thursday.

 

The City police registered 82 cases and arrested 85 people for violating the lockdown on the day. Sixty-eight vehicles were confiscated.

Police officers said many continued to go outdoors, particularly owing to private companies not providing employees the option to work from home. The reluctance shown by the coastal community to adhere to the cubrs has been problematic. The authorities have been unable to trace three persons who had jumped quarantine from General Hospital in the past two days.

No new cases

No new COVID-19 positive cases were reported in the district on Friday. As many as 3,062 people were newly put under observation in the district. A total of 11,024 people are under isolation in their houses. Twenty-seven people are under treatment at the General Hospital, and 43 at the Medical College Hospital. Three persons have completed their 28-day quarantine period without symptoms.

Out of the 1,222 samples sent for COVID-19 tests, results of 943 have been received. All the 65 results received on Friday were negative. Forty-three samples were sent for testing on Friday.

 

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