Over the past few weeks, COVID-19 cases have been reported in fairly large numbers from Anchuthengu, Chirayinkeezhu, Venjaramoodu, Kadakkavoor and Kizhuvilam.
Yet, the 31 wards of the Attingal municipality, which shares its borders with these places, remained somewhat insulated from the virus. Until the reporting of the first case in the municipality on Wednesday of a police officer working in Thiruvananthapuram, Attingal had remained one of the few municipalities in the State with zero COVID-19 cases.
What worked for the municipality was some of the stringent measures taken early on by the authorities to prevent crowding and reduce chances of virus spread. With its close proximity to Thiruvananthapuram, where the number of cases have been shooting up especially in the coastal areas, the municipality stopped all kinds of fish trade as soon as cases began rising in Poonthura.
“We began the preventive measures early in March, first by regulating the crowd in the markets and later completely closing it. Then we noticed that a lot of cases are being reported from the coastal regions of Poonthura and Anchuthengu. Most of the fish vendors in Attingal come from Anchuthengu. So, we decided to close down the wholesale fish market here as soon as cases were reported in Anchuthengu and other areas. Our health wing has also seized fish being brought illegally from other places. Even after lifting of restrictions in other places, only parcels were allowed from restaurants in the municipality,” says M. Pradeep, chairman of the Attingal municipality.
Luck did play its part too in Attingal remaining COVID-free, as none of the persons who came from abroad or other States have tested positive here. In most other places, positive cases were reported among people who came from outside before contact cases began surfacing.
On Wednesday, as soon as a communication was received from the taluk hospital regarding the first positive case, the municipality and health officials swung into action, identifying and quarantining all contacts.
“The police officer who tested positive works at the Cantonment station in Thiruvananthapuram. Since his residence is here, we found that he had also visited a workshop in the locality. We have identified and quarantined all the primary contacts from there, while the list of secondary contacts is being prepared,” says Mr.Pradeep.