IDUKKI: Confusion prevailed after the Idukki district collector and a minister confirmed three fresh Covid-19 cases in the district in an unusual practice on Tuesday noon only for the chief minister to deny it in the evening. Pinarayi Vijayan, in his media briefing, said the cases needed further confirmation. Power Minister M M Mani as well as District Collector H Dhineshan at a joint media briefing confirmed that three more persons had tested positive late on Monday night, taking the total number of active cases in the district to 17.
They said a staff nurse at the District Hospital in Thodupuzha, a municipal councillor and software engineer from Mariyapuram who arrived from Bengaluru are the fresh cases. However, later in the evening, when the CM announced that the state has reported four new cases, these three were curiously missing. When asked, the CM said they need further confirmation. The mix-up happened at a time when the Opposition has sought to question the prevailing practice of only CM announcing fresh cases in his daily briefing.
Mani ‘quarantines’ Bijimol
While Power Minister M M Mani said E S Bijimol was quarantined at home on Tuesday as she had attended a public event held a few days ago in Elappara panchayat — which has been declared a hotspot — the Peermade MLA herself denied this in a Facebook live post.