Commandos out in superspreader Kerala village after 119 cases detected
In a first of its kind instance in Kerala, super spreading of COVID-19 was detected in the coastal village of Poonthura in Thiruvananthapuram district. The entire village has been cordoned off. All the 54 cases reported from Poonthura on Wednesday contracted the virus through local transmission.
Of the 600 swab samples collected from the village, 119 tested positive. Minister Kadakampally Surendran, who is in charge of the district’s pandemic control measures, while talking to media persons confirmed that super spreading has been detected in the coastal village.
The rapid spread of locally transmitted cases in the village is due to the presence of super spreaders in the area, according to health experts. Super spreaders are those individuals who pass on the infection to a large number of people.
Health and district administration authorities have taken stringent measures and three wards in the village have been marked critical containment zones while five wards have been declared as buffer zones, according to regional media reports.
Health authorities have found 120 persons in the primary contact list of a COVID-19 patient in the village.
A team of 25 commandos and six teams of health workers have been deployed in Poonthura as part of restrictions. It has been decided to strictly prohibit entry of outsiders to the village, reports added. Authorities will seek the support of community leaders in creating awareness on the importance of following COVID-19 protocol like social distancing and wearing face mask.
All houses in the area will be disinfected and fishing activities have been banned along the coastal areas of Thiruvananthapuram until further notice. Lockdown will be strictly enforced in the sea as well. No one including the fishermen from the village will be allowed to cross the state border to enter Tamil Nadu. Fishermen from the village used to go to Tamil Nadu frequently for fishing activities, even during the lockdown.
All the families in the three critical containment zones will be given five kgs of rice for free.
