Health officials are all set to begin surveillance to check community spread of COVID-19 in the district through a step-by-step process. The focus will be on one zone in the district at a time by taking 10 samples from an area.
Maradu Municipality will the first zone where sampling will take place. The Health Department would identify ten people from Maradu by following the guidelines on selecting persons, said N.K. Kuttappan, District Medical Officer. They would be taken to the Karuvelipady Taluk Hospital to take swab samples.
The department would collect samples from other areas three days a week.
Hotspots
According to District Collector S. Suhas, Division 8 of Chullikkal and Division 65 of Kathrikadavu are the two hotspots in the Kochi Corporation area.
The two areas will not be given any concessions in the lockdown till May 3. Chullikkal-Panayappilly areas constitute Division 8, while Kaloor South and Kathrikadavu constitute Division 65. Mulavukad panchayat and other divisions of the corporation have been removed from the list of hotspot areas.
The hotspots were decided after consultation with the police and the Health Department. The information was also conveyed to Chief Secretary Tom Jose in a videoconference. All the lockdown norms needed to be followed in the hotspots, Mr. Jose said. Hotspots could change according to circumstances, he added.
The Chief Secretary also asked the District Collector to take action against those who are found travelling in trucks illegally.
134 in observation
Eleven more people have been put under home quarantine for suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection on Wednesday, while 17 people were released, taking the total number to 134.
Five persons were put under hospital isolation, of which two were in Moovattupuzha General Hospital and three in a private hospital. There are now 15 people in hospital isolation.
No new COVID-19 cases were reported in the district on Wednesday.