Notwithstanding the lockdown announced by the State government, Kottayam town on Tuesday witnessed a normal rush of vehicles on the roads, forcing authorities to launch a crackdown on those violating the restrictions.
According to District Police Chief G. Jaidev, 30 cases were registered in connection with the violation of the legal restrictions till 5 p.m.
Lukewarm response
In view of a lukewarm response by the public to the lockdown, the police have decided to step up vigil and tighten the security measures from Wednesday onward, the officer said.
Later in the evening, the police carried out route marches in all five sub-divisions in the district as part of dissuading people from moving to public places. The route march held in Kottayam town was led by Mr. Jaidev.
Meanwhile, 464 persons were released from home quarantine here on Tuesday. Those released during the day comprised 446 secondary contacts of the COVID-19 patients from Chengalam and 18 foreign nationals.
At the same time, the isolation wards in the district witnessed no new admissions during the day even as one person was discharged from isolation, bringing down the total number of people under observation to six.
With 372 persons, all returned from abroad or other States, being directed to go in home quarantine, the number of persons in home isolation on Tuesday stood at 2,411.
Of the 2,411 persons in home isolation, 1,024 persons are from other States.
Among those returned from abroad, 467 persons are from the UAE where as 95 returned from Kuwait.
They are in addition to 68 people from Qatar, 67 from Saudi Arabia, 88 from Oman, and 50 from Bahrain. Similarly, 133 persons landed from Italy, while the remaining patients reached from the other COVID-19-affected countries including China, South Korea, Spain, France, the U.K., Germany, the U.S., Canada and Singapore.
Help desk
The district administration has entrusted the Snehitha Gender Help Desk that functions under the Kudumbashree Mission to provide counselling service for people in home quarantine.
Those who wish to get counselling can contact on 9496346684.
