Kozhikode: A Sub-Collector and Circle Inspector were among more than 100 people directed to self-quarantine after a mentally unsound destitute man housed in a shelter camp visited by them tested positive for COVID-19, a top police official said.

The man was in a shelter camp set up by the district administration, along with about 100 destitutes.

District Collector RPT Collector Samba Siva Rao said the officials, volunteers and inmates were directed to go on home quarantine as a precautionary measure in the light of the destitute testing positive.

"We were part of the team identifying the destitute roaming around the city limits.

As is the usual practise, we house them in batches of 100 and one among them tested positive.

As a precaution, we have all been advised to go into self-quarantine and have given our swab samples for testing," the Circle Inspector, who did not wish to be named, told PTI.

The city police, along with the district administration, have been rehabilitating destitutes and beggars in the city ever since the lockdown began.

Over 650 destitutes have been lodged in temporary shelters at various schools and auditoriums and are being provided with food and medical assistance.

The 67-year old destitute from Tamil Nadu, who tested positive on Friday, was rescued and brought to the shelter early this month, police said.

Kozhikode has 12 positive cases of COVID-19 and there are 1,193 people under observation.

There are 58 people in isolation wards across various hospitals in the district.

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