Kerala imposed a ‘triple lock’ in Kannur after the district, which has the highest count of COVID-19 cases, reported 6 more cases on Monday.
This means that the district administration has tightened lockdown restrictions in order to contain the spread of the virus. Kannur which reported 52 cases as on Monday, (out of which 2 are patients from Kasaragod) is part of the red zone in Kerala where lockdown will continue without any relaxations until May 3. The red zone consists of Kannur, Kasaragod, Malappuram and Kozhikode - the districts which have the highest number of positive cases.
With lockdown being tightened, all police stations in the district will enforce vehicle checks within their station limits. The district has been divided into 3 zones with senior police officers given charge of each zone. Those found violating quarantine by unnecessarily stepping out of their houses will also face action. The police will also seize vehicles of defaulters. Residents in the district who need emergency medication have been asked to get in touch with the local self government offices.
Speaking to the media on Monday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said ‘Kasaragod too had observed a stringent lockdown for close to a month.”
“Section 144 (bars assembly of five or more persons) was imposed and vehicles of lockdown violators were seized. We are aware that people had a lot of difficulties due to the lockdown. But now Kasaragod has seen the benefits of the tight lockdown with the number of cases lowering,” the CM added.
Out of the six people who tested positive in Kannur on Monday, five of them had a history of foreign travel while one person contracted the virus through contact with a confirmed COVID-19 patient. At present, only three districts in Kerala have more than ten positive patients - these are Kannur (52), Kasaragod (25) and Kozhikode (13). Malappuram and Pathanamthitta have a few cases each.
Alappuzha, Thrissur, Idukki and Kottayam, meanwhile, have zero positive cases of the virus currently.