The number of fresh COVID-19 cases in the district crossed the 100 mark on Tuesday with 118 persons testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 on the day. All but two of these persons contracted the viral infection through local transmission. Two persons had returned from other States. Three health workers are among those who contracted the disease through contact. With this, the number of active cases in the district rose to 557.
Meanwhile, the district administration has declared Ettumanur as a COVID-19 cluster and decided to implement cluster containment strategy in the municipality and four adjoining grama panchayats — Manjoor, Athirampuzha, Kanakkary and Ayarkkunnam. An urgent meeting convened by Minister for Civil Supplies P. Thilothaman here on Tuesday decided to conduct extensive testing here with the cooperation of local bodies.
Lockdown likely
With a majority of COVID-19 patients in the new cluster remaining asymptomatic, the authorities consider the situation extremely alarming and a region-wise lockdown is likely to be in the locality.
During the meeting, the Minister directed District Collector M. Anjana to decide on imposing a regional or district- level lockdown after reviewing the spread of the virus.
Taking a serious note of the situation, the district administration has intensified the regulations in Ettumanur.
Only public distribution shops and shops selling essential items are allowed to open in the area between 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Restaurants can offer parcel services between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The Collector also directed incident commander, police, and authorities of the Health and Local Self-Governance Departments to intensify monitoring in the region.
