KOCHI: With a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases through local transmission in the district, containment zones in Aluva municipality and Chellanam and Mulavukad panchayats have come under active surveillance.

As part of this, special teams deployed by the health department will collect more than 200 samples from Chellanam and Aluva regions. To avoid symptomatic persons from visiting hospitals, health officials will visit their houses and collect samples.

Door-to-door sample collection will be done with the help of ASHA and Kudumbashree workers. A decision in this regard was taken in the video-conference meeting chaired by Agriculture Minister V S Sunil Kumar.

Meanwhile, the health department, with the help of police officials, have identified all the tourist bus operators and workers who were engaged in transporting migrant labourers back to their home states. According to officials, the swab samples of bus crew with Covid symptoms will be collected for tests.

The operational time of essential shops in containment zones has been rescheduled from 8am to 1pm. The minister said home delivery of essential items will be facilitated from supermarkets.

As a precautionary measure, fish markets at Fort Kochi and Kalamukku have been also closed down.
Meanwhile, ward 8 and 21 in Aluva were declared as containment zones in Aluva municipality on Thursday. As many as 15 out of 26 wards in Aluva municipality are containment zones.