No relaxations in Madurai’s ‘red zone’

TNN | Updated: May 6, 2020, 10:33 IST

The collector said they had been able to trace the contacts of all 91 Covid-19 positive cases in Madurai

MADURAI: Madurai continues to remain a “red zone’’ with 91 Covid-19 cases and 25 containment zones, which would see further tightening of lockdown measures, even as they are eased in a phased manner from Wednesday and many activities would resume in other parts of the city as well as rural limits of the district.
District collector Dr T G Vinay told reporters on Tuesday in the presence of corporation commissioner S Visakan and police commissioner S Davidson Devasirvatham that two of the 13 containment zones in the city, Narimedu and P & T Nagar and two in the rural limits, Kariapatti and Kallampatti, had completed their 28-day containment period and have been ‘released’.
As of now there were 46 active cases in the isolation ward at Government Rajaji Hospital. The screening for Covid-19 was more than the state average in Madurai and so far 7,200 people had been tested. They were testing primary, secondary and low risk contacts of positive cases apart from screening ILI and SARI cases. Thirteen mobile medical units have been used to screen expectant mothers. As many as 447 antenatal mothers had been screened five days before their delivery date for the disease in the district so far. High risk mothers were screened 10 days in advance.
Nine people had come to Madurai from Koyembedu including two with dual entry and seven of them kept in home quarantine. In all, 35 people who had travelled from Chennai and nearby places to Madurai in recent times had been confined to quarantine facilities. Thirteen Tablighi preachers from Hyderabad who arrived on Monday evening were also being screened.
The collector said they had been able to trace the contacts of all 91 Covid-19 positive cases in Madurai. The contact tracing team, including revenue, health and police officials, had been able to trace the contacts of all those who tested positive in the district.
Police commissioner Davidson Devasirvatham said that police personnel would be deployed widely from Wednesday to monitor the movement of people when the lockdown is eased. ``People going for work, or necessitated movements, will not be stopped for checking passes, but if people are found to be moving unnecessarily, like visiting relatives, or in doubles or triples, or more than the number permitted in vehicles action would be initiated,’’ he said. Only one person would be permitted on two wheelers and two in cars.
He said Tasmac shops would also be monitored by two or three police personnel when they open on Thursday. While standalone shops did not need e-passes for their employees or shops, all IT and IT-related businesses had to obtain a one-time pass for the office as well as staff to start functioning.