Thiruvananthapuram: Section 144 invoked in 10 panchayats as test positivity rate hits 25%

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The district collector has enforced Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in 10 panchayats of the district where the test positivity rate (TPR) has gone beyond 25%.
It has been found that the TPR has gone beyond 25% from April 19 to 22 in Aruvikkara, Amboori, Karode, Perumkadavila, Kattakada, Andoorkanam, Kollayil, Uzhamalackal, Kunnathukal and Aryankode panchayats.
As per the order “the station house officers (SHOs) shall take stringent actions to enforce restrictions and take all steps and precautions necessary to bring down the number of cases. Local self-governments (LSGs) will continue to have these restriction till the TPR falls below 20% (weekly average)’’.
As per the order, public gatherings, including places of worship, are limited to a maximum of five people. Total number of attendees in marriages and other social gatherings shall be restricted to 25 people. Information about all such events shall be entered in the “Event Register” service in Covid19 Jagratha portal and the list shall be shared with the sub-collectors or local SHOs. Other than the permitted gatherings, all other gatherings shall be strictly avoided.
Hotels shall permit in-house dining till 7.30pm and can provide takeaway or parcels till 9pm. All shops and commercial establishments should operate strictly adhering to Covid-19 protocol. Any violations shall immediately lead to closing down of shops for at least two days or more depending on the severity of the violation.
The district administration has observed that there is a severe surge of Covid-19 cases in Thiruvananthapuram over the past couple of days.
TPR in the district has increased from 9.97% (April 13 to 17) to 13.16% (April18 to 22) in just one week, which demonstrates the severity of the surge. TPR at present is over 15.4%.
The district disaster management authority has been declaring containment and micro-containment zones in various parts of the district to ensure strict containment. However, the evolving situation warrants special measures to bring the virus spread under control.
“The district authority has examined the matter in detail and found that the enforcement of social distancing should be extended further to bring down the number of active cases and is convinced that the requirement of enforcement of 144 CrPC is essential to manage the pandemic situation in certain parts of the district where TPR is high,’’ said Navjot Khosa, district collector who is also the district magistrate.