Kerala CM & 7 ministers go into isolation

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/ KOZHIKODE: Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and seven of his cabinet colleagues who had visited the site of the Air India Express crash in Kozhikode went into self-quarantine after 20 senior officials of the Mallappuram district, including the collector and the police chief, involved in the rescue operation at Karipur tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday.
Two AIE passengers, one who died and another hospitalised, were found to be carrying the virus following tests after the tragedy. On Friday, Mallappuram district collector K Gopalakrishnan and police chief U Abdul Kareem tested positive for the virus.
Sources in the government said the CM will not be attending the Independence Day parade in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday. Devaswom minister Kadakampally Surendran will be hoisting the national flag instead.