The district administration has prohibited public events in Kozhikode in the wake of the daily test positivity rate (TPR) for COVID-19 going above 30% for three consecutive days.
District Collector N. Tej Lohit Reddy told the media that sectoral magistrates had been told to control crowding in public places, vehicles, and restaurants.
The ban would be applicable to religious events as well. Self regulation would be mandatory. Officials from the Regional Transport Office would inspect crowded vehicles. Standing passengers would not be allowed in buses and vehicle owners should ensure that, Mr. Reddy said.
As many as 2,043 people tested positive for the virus on Monday and the daily TPR was 32.67%.
All government, semi-government, and cooperative institutions, public sector undertakings, and autonomous bodies would have to hold meetings and events online. The District Police Chief has been asked to take steps to control the flow of visitors to beaches, eateries, restaurants, and shopping malls.
Hotels and restaurants would not be allowed to take in more than 50% of their seating capacity. The Kozhikode city police had on Sunday begun regulating visitors to shopping malls and to the beach to control crowding.
Meanwhile, a three-fold rise was seen in the official number of infected persons in the district in a week. Only 740 and 561 people, respectively, had tested positive for the virus on January 9 and January 10. In a week, it has now gone up beyond 2,000. The daily TPR, which was 13.33% on January 10, too has gone up. District Medical Officer V. Ummer Farooq urged the people to ensure social distancing, proper wearing of face masks and sanitisation of hands to keep away from the infection. Those aged above 15 should mandatorily vaccinate themselves. Crowding should be avoided at any cost, he said.
