KOCHI: With Covid cases rising to 3,980 in the district, collector S Suhas informed that 98 more wards have been declared as containment zones. During the meeting to review the Covid situation on Wednesday, the collector declared Varappuzha panchayat as a containment zone. It will be shut down completely. Restrictions will be tightened in containment zones with effect from 6pm on Thursday, he said.
Employers in containment zones should ensure that the workers coming from outside strictly follow Covid protocol and basic facilities such as food and water are provided at the worksite. Action will be taken against institutions that refuse to part with buildings to set up Covid First-Line Treatment Centres (CFLTC) under the Disaster Management Act, the collector said. He also directed to ensure strict protocol at Plus II examination centres. Police inspection will be tightened to ensure that street vendors do not violate the protocol.
The collector informed that he has noticed that some people were carrying out false propaganda to spread panic among guest workers. Strict action will be taken against those who try to spread panic. A control room will soon be opened under a labour officer to allay fears of guest workers. A multi-lingual team will also be deployed for communicating with the labourers.
Mayor Anil Kumar, district panchayat president Ullas Thomas, City Police Commissioner C Nagaraju, Aluva Rural SP K Karthik, deputy collector (Disaster management division) Shahjahan, DMO Dr N K Kuttappan, district surveillance officer S Sreedevi and others attended the online meeting.