A total of 98 wards have newly been declared containment zones in the district, while Varapuzha panchayat has turned entirely into a containment zone.
After Edathala, Mazhuvannoor and Vengola were declared containment zones entirely on Tuesday, Varapuzha is the fourth panchayat in the district where heightened restrictions will come into effect from 6 p.m. on Thursday.
Healthcare facilities
According to figures available with the district administration, 138 out of the 360 ventilators in the district are occupied. Of the 1,085 ICU beds, 429 are available, while 1,967 of 3,351 beds with oxygen supply are available for treatment. The District Hospital in Aluva, a 100-bed facility, has begun admitting category C patients, while the Fort Kochi taluk hospital will begin treatment for COVID patients from Thursday onwards, said Dr. Mathews Numpeli, district programme manager, National Health Mission. The super-speciality block at the Ernakulam General Hospital, which was recently taken over for COVID treatment, is likely to be ready for patients only by next week. Additional staff appointments are being made for the facility, Dr. Numpeli said. The Government Medical College Hospital is also prepared with 60 additional beds with oxygen supply to begin admissions from Friday onwards.
FLTCs
Five new first-line treatment centres will begin functioning soon. Three second-line treatment centres and four domiciliary care centres are already functioning.
In addition to the two FLTCs already running at Palluruthy and Mattancherry, the Kochi Corporation had readied two more, one at Edakochi and the other at Kaloor. The corporation is also set to begin distribution of food packets to people in quarantine and those in need. Local councillors, along with Asha workers and junior public health nurses, will help prepare a list of people who require food packets. Two organisations have volunteered to provide food packets. Five divisions of the corporation were listed for complete lockdown on Tuesday.
