Vehicles throng roads on day two of partial lockdown

KOCHI: Even as partial lockdown has been implemented in the state to rein in the rising number of Covid cases, people still don’t seem to understand the gravity of the situation. On Wednesday, the second day of partial lockdown, Kochi roads saw an influx of vehicles undermining the very meaning of imposing restrictions.

Two-wheelers and four-wheelers were plying in a large number on the roads. The number of vehicles was very high between 7am and 10am. “The number of two-wheelers was higher. With restrictions imposed on the number of staff at government departments, private establishments and banks, the traffic on the roads should have been low,” said a policeman manning a junction.  

According to him, the police are strictly monitoring the comings and goings. “Barricades have been set up at major traffic points and also on all major roads in the city,” he said. According to a traffic police officer, the cops have been checking the IDs to prevent loitering and have found that nearly 70 per cent are genuine office goers while 30 per cent are out just for the fun of it. “Action is being taken against loiters and fine, as directed by the state government, is being imposed,” he added. “Since checkings are being conducted at several points, vehicles get queued up. This might be the reason behind the increase in the density of vehicles,” said the officer. 

On the first day of implementation of partial lockdown, 411 cases were registered, 154 people were arrested and 33 vehicles were seized. The cops also registered 14 cases for violation of quarantine rules. In the case of violation of lockdown rules, the highest number of cases was registered in the rural area with 275 people being booked while 66 people were arrested. The police also registered cases against 3,190 people for not wearing masks in public and 3,209 were booked for not following the social distancing protocol on day one.

Covid test for food delivery boys

Kochi: The district administration has made the RT-PCR test mandatory for online food delivery staff such as Swiggy and Zomato in the city. A decision in this regard was taken during a review meeting of Covid.  “Food delivery people are making contact with a large number of people in the city. This will increase the risk of spreading the disease. Food aggregators will be given instructions to ensure Covid testing of  staff, “he said.