THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With no reduction in the number of Covid-19 cases due to contact or with unknown source of infection, the lockdown implemented at the Thiruvananthapuram corporation limit has been extended till midnight of July 28. The capital-district on Sunday recorded 222 more Covid cases, of which as many as 203 are cases of local transmission.
With the situation in the coastal areas especially dire, the health department has decided to implement a new testing strategy to rein in the district’s coastal community clusters. “Three coastal zones have been identified to coordinate the prevention and control activities. Also, four more Covid First-Line Treatment Centres will be set up at Zone 1, which extends from Edava to Perumathura,” said an officer with the health department. According to District Collector Navjot Khosa, the extension of the lockdown was required because many of the patients were found to have had a large number of contacts across the city.
“The active cases are being treated at various hospitals in the district, and their primary and secondary contacts have been traced to prevent further transmission of the disease,” the collector said. As per the latest order, the following activities are allowed during the lockdown: the functioning of the Accountant General Office with a maximum of 30 per cent staff, the functioning of food processing, medical and allied product manufacturers within Kinfra parks, and the construction of buildings if the workers are staying in camps within the sites. However, no movement outside the construction site will be permitted.
Meanwhile, two new testing strategies are being mulled for implementation at the coastal community clusters, especially at Pulluvila and Poonthura. As per the first strategy, all symptomatic individuals including those with influenza- like illnesses will be tested. The second strategy is to test all elderly persons aged above 60, anybody with comorbid illnesses, all pregnant and postnatal women, and all children with severe acute malnutrition. Antigen tests will be conducted for them. According to the health department, all those who test positive on the antigen tests shall be considered infected.