Palakkad patient roamed crowded places for 8 days

On March 14, he performed prayers five times at Anakkaparambu mosque. At 11am on the same day, two people visited his house.

PALAKKAD: The travel history of the Karakurissy native, who returned from Dubai and has since tested positive for Covid-19, shows his callous attitude towards the instructions by the Health Department for those who return from abroad.

The 51-year-old man had roamed in many crowded places for eight days. His primary and secondary contacts could well be around 300 people. He had reached the Karipur airport at 7.50 am on March 13 after Umrah on Air India AI 344 flight (29C seat) from Dubai.

At 9am, he went home in his car along with four family members. He alighted at Valluvambram at 10.30am to have breakfast from a wayside eatery. The vehicle did not stop anywhere else and he reached home at noon.

At 12.30pm, he went in his car to the Sunni Jamaath Mosque at Karakunnu where there were 60 believers at that time. He returned at 1.30pm. At 7pm, he visited the Darul Salam Yateemkhana. In the meantime, he performed prayers at a mosque in Anakkaparambu at 4pm, 6.45pm and 7.45 pm.

On March 14, he performed prayers five times at Anakkaparambu mosque. At 11am on the same day, two people visited his house. The same day, he participated in a private function between 1pm and 2pm at Arappara Vazhampuram. At 4 in the evening, two more visitors arrived. On March 15, he took part in prayers at the Anakkaparambu mosque five times. The following day, between 10am and noon, he went along with his second son to the Mannarkad Taluk Hospital following cough and body pain.

Between 12.30pm and 1.15pm, he also visited the Janata store and vegetable shop and at 2pm, he reached the petrol station at Mukkunam. On March 17, he was confined to his house. On March 18, between 9am and noon, he arrived along with his second son at the Taluk Hospital in Mannarkad. At 12.30pm, he visited the nearby tailoring shop. Later, between 7pm and 8pm, he went to the P Balan Memorial Co-operative Hospital. On March 19, he was confined to his house and on the following day, he performed prayers at the mosque in Karakunnu where there were 60 devotees. On March 21, at 9am, he again visited P Balan Memorial Co-operative Hospital and at 1pm, the mosque at Viyyakurissy. In the afternoon, between 1.30pm and 3pm, he again visited the Taluk Hospital in Mannarkad. On March 22, though he was confined to his house, he had one visitor.

On March 23 morning, he came along with his elder son in a car to the Taluk Hospital in Mannarkad.It was on the complaint by the locals that he was kept in his house under observation. It was on March 25 that the test results were released. Collector D Balamurali said a case has been registered against him for not abiding by the protocol after returning from abroad.

KSRTC conductor
Another cause for concern is the fact that one of his sons is a KSRTC bus conductor and had performed duty for three days . He was on duty in a bus operating between Mannarkad and Coimbatore via Attappadi and also between Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram.

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