The City and Rural police have opened additional checking points in front of police stations in Kozhikode to strengthen the enforcement of COVID-19 protocol and prevent violations. As many as 830 police officers will join the full-time surveillance to bring down the daily caseload in the district.
The service of 530 police officers will be used within Kozhikode City to implement field-level enforcement work. Vehicle checking will be intensified to prevent casual trips and public gatherings. Details of vehicles will be recorded at checkpoints. Flash inspection squads have also been formed to keep an eye on major shopping centres and markets, where people tend to violate physical distancing norms. Shop owners found flouting safety instructions will be asked to down shutters. Penal action will also be taken against them.
The movement of people who do not have a COVID-negative test result or vaccination certificate will be regulated based on the test positivity rate (TPR) and containment zone norms. Though many traders’ associations have opposed the move, the police have made it clear that it will be implemented strictly.
“We are compelled to tighten the regulations considering the increasing number of cases and the casual behaviour of some citizens. Restricting the entry of unvaccinated people in public places has been successfully implemented in various countries as part of the improved preventive measures,” said a police officer from Koduvally. He said the demand for more community-level vaccination drives was under the consideration of local administrators to address public concerns.
Health Department officials said ward-level details of unvaccinated people would be collected soon to offer walk-in vaccination facility. Accredited Social Health Activists would gather the details soon to make arrangements, they said.