District Collector B. Abdul Nasar imposed prohibitory orders on Thenmala, Aryankavu and Kulathupuzha grama panchayats from April 21 midnight after a Kulathupuzha resident tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
The 31-year-old man had visited Puliyankudi, a border village in Tamil Nadu, where the disease has been spreading. Reportedly, he sneaked out, managing to evade the surveillance of squads, and reached Puliyankudi that is around 40 km from the Kerala border.
According to sources, he crossed the border in a truck transporting vegetables and then used a forest route. He attended a funeral at Puliyankudi and when some others present there tested positive for COVID-19, the Tamil Nadu Police alerted Kerala.
His sample was taken on Sunday at Punalur Taluk Hospital. He was later shifted to Government Medical College Hospital, Paripally, after he tested positive on Tuesday. While his mother, who is currently in Tamil Nadu, tested SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19) negative, health officials are tracing his primary and secondary contacts in Kerala.
Among the cases reported from Tenkashi district, the majority are from Puliyankudi, which is the village from where vehicles carrying lemon regularly reach Kerala. At present, vehicles are allowed entry after thermal screening but following the new development, a demand to introduce rapid test at the Aryankavu check-post has been raised.
The district administration has sealed all the three villages sharing border with Tamil Nadu and no offices other than revenue, police, health, local self-government, and those engaged in COVID-19 prevention will be allowed to function.
Facilities allowed
Banks can operate from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and provision stores providing essential commodities can function from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. All roads to the three panchayats will be under the strict surveillance. Forest routes will be monitored by guards and nobody will be allowed to walk beside railway tracks.