Section of Ooty market closed after trader tests positive for COVID-19

More than 70 shops will remain closed for the next week, says official

A section of the Udhagamandalam municipal market has been closed for the next week after one trader tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday.

R. Saraswati, Udhagamandalam Municipality Commissioner (UMC), confirmed that the trader, who was a representative of the merchants’ association, had been feeling ill for a few days and was tested. “The person assisted the municipality in fighting COVID-19 and travelled to a few villages and was well acquainted with people in the market,” said Ms. Saraswati. Efforts were on to trace his contacts.

UMC staff began disinfecting the market on Monday morning, and more than 70 shops will remain closed for the next week, officials said. Officials from the health department said that they face an uphill task of immediately tracing the primary contacts of the individual, as he could have contracted the infection more than a week ago.

The wholesale market, which is part of the municipal market complex, where the individual was working, has been completely closed, and all shopkeepers in the surrounding area are to be tested for COVID-19.

“Only after all the contacts are tested, and we ascertain whether other people who worked in proximity to the trader are free of COVID-19, will we allow the section of the market to be reopened, so the closure could extend to more than a week,” an official from the municipality said. The district administration has once again appealed to residents to only venture out for essential work.