THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The KSRTC closed down its Pappanamcode depot in Thiruvananthapuram for two days after a driver attached to it tested positive for COVID-19 thereby sending around 50 employees to quarantine.
The Health Department gave directions to disinfect the rest room and the buses plied by the 40-year-old driver. All primary contacts of the driver have been asked to undergo quarantine. All of them will be tested for COVID-19 in the next five days, says Dr Gayathri LK, Covid Investigation Officer in-charge in DMO Office, Thiruvananthapuram.
She said the areas where the bus plied in the previous days would be put on high alert to identify any potential symptomatic travellers. The employees at the depot staged a protest for not taking any preventive steps and refused to work on Wednesday.
The driver came from Thrissur where he was deployed to ferry people coming from outside from the railway station to the quarantine centres. He also drove a bus that transported people to the Tamil Nadu border.
He returned to his Home Depot at Pappanamcode and worked for five days before developing symptoms of COVID-19. The health department is trying to trace people who travelled in his bus at Thrissur. They will be identified and tested after seven days of observation.
The KSRTC depot at Kattakada in Thiruvananthapuram was also closed after the panchayat was declared a hotspot on June 16.