The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) on Wednesday closed its Pappanamcode depot for two days after a driver attached to it tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 on Tuesday. With Kattakada listed as a hotspot, the KSRTC has also shut its Kattakada depot until further notice.
The district administration and health officials have begun containment measures. In addition to tracing the driver’s contacts, directions have been issued for disinfecting/fumigating the buses driven by him and establishments he visited. These include the fire stations at Chenkalchoola and Parassala, Regional Transport Office at Vazhuthacaud, a petrol pump at Vellayambalam (near Indian Coffee House), Nemom police station, the KSRTC depot at Pappanamcode and the depot office there.
Of the 17 primary contacts traced so far, all of them KSRTC staff, six have been quarantined at the COVID Care Centre at Mar Ivanios Vidya Nagar. Various district administrations have been alerted as 10 persons have left Thiruvananthapuram district. Secondary contacts will remain under observation for seven days until the primary contacts undergo tests.
The driver, a 40-year-old man from Thrissur, operated regular services and transported arrivals from outside the State to quarantine facilities and district borders. He was hospitalised on Sunday. The places through which he plied services are being placed on high alert for identifying potential symptomatic travellers. Expatriates who were transported on the bus are being traced. They will undergo tests after completing seven days in observation.
The Pappanamcode depot was shut after the staff refused to go on duty and staged protests citing lack of safety measures.
All persons who have come into close contact with the patient have been requested to contact the Health Department on the toll-free number 1077.
Containment zones
With the Kattakada and Pappanamcode depots shut, the KSRTC has announced alternative arrangements. The Neyyattinkara, Vizhinjam, Thiruvananthapuram city and Vellanad units of the KSRTC will make arrangements for covering the routes under the two depots. Ten grama panchayat wards in Kattakada have been declared containment zones.
