[ad_1]
Attracting people from all over Tamil Nadu looking to sell their products or looking for work, the Koyambedu wholesale market has become a super-diffuser of Covid-19, pushing many districts into the red-orange zone as infections
From Cuddalore in northern Tamil Nadu to Dindigul in the south, people who visited the 65-acre market that also receives trucks from across the country have begun to test positive en masse. Almost all of the 122 positive cases reported in Cuddalore on Monday go back to Koyambedu. Test results of 450 more contacts from Koyambedu are expected. Forty-nine Villupuram people who visited the market tested positive on Monday, while 33 did so on Sunday.
Now Cuddalore, Villupuram, Dindigul, and Tenkasi are likely to be reclassified as red zones. These were among the 14 districts in the state that had gone from being red-light to orange just a few days ago.
Koyambedu’s group has sent the official machinery in the districts into overdrive: Border control has been stepped up to arrest, test and isolate people coming from Chennai.
Villupuram Police Superintendent S Jayaram said four centers have been established to quarantine 459 people who visited the market and 287 of their close contacts.
Tiruppur and Salem district authorities have issued notices and helpline numbers asking people connected to Koyambedu to report for testing on a voluntary basis.
Dindigul District Collector M Vijayalakshmi said Monday of the 100 people who returned from Koyambedu and were examined, ten tested positive. They are monitoring and selecting their contacts, “he said.
Collectors and health officials in the western districts have also raised their guard. In Tiruppur, two shippers who traveled in a truck with watermelons from Koyambedu two days ago tested positive. In Coimbatore, 28 people with a history of travel to Koyambedu have been tracked so far, and 43 people have been tracked in Nilgiris.
Deputy Director of Health Services Dr. G Ramesh Kumar said that the 28 people tracked in Coimbatore are from Mettupalayam, Sirumugai and Pollachi. “They will be tested for Covid-19 on Tuesday,” he said.
Ariyalur and Perambalur, two districts in central Tamil Nadu had maintained single digit cases all this time. No more. In the last four days, the number has shot up from eight to 34 in Ariyalur and from nine to 36 in Perambalur. And, they are all linked to Koyambedu.
Since there are few job opportunities for villagers in these two districts, they do odd jobs in the Koyambedu market to supplement the income from their farmland.
[ad_2]
From Cuddalore in northern Tamil Nadu to Dindigul in the south, people who visited the 65-acre market that also receives trucks from across the country have begun to test positive en masse. Almost all of the 122 positive cases reported in Cuddalore on Monday go back to Koyambedu. Test results of 450 more contacts from Koyambedu are expected. Forty-nine Villupuram people who visited the market tested positive on Monday, while 33 did so on Sunday.
Now Cuddalore, Villupuram, Dindigul, and Tenkasi are likely to be reclassified as red zones. These were among the 14 districts in the state that had gone from being red-light to orange just a few days ago.
Koyambedu’s group has sent the official machinery in the districts into overdrive: Border control has been stepped up to arrest, test and isolate people coming from Chennai.
Villupuram Police Superintendent S Jayaram said four centers have been established to quarantine 459 people who visited the market and 287 of their close contacts.
Tiruppur and Salem district authorities have issued notices and helpline numbers asking people connected to Koyambedu to report for testing on a voluntary basis.
Dindigul District Collector M Vijayalakshmi said Monday of the 100 people who returned from Koyambedu and were examined, ten tested positive. They are monitoring and selecting their contacts, “he said.
Collectors and health officials in the western districts have also raised their guard. In Tiruppur, two shippers who traveled in a truck with watermelons from Koyambedu two days ago tested positive. In Coimbatore, 28 people with a history of travel to Koyambedu have been tracked so far, and 43 people have been tracked in Nilgiris.
Deputy Director of Health Services Dr. G Ramesh Kumar said that the 28 people tracked in Coimbatore are from Mettupalayam, Sirumugai and Pollachi. “They will be tested for Covid-19 on Tuesday,” he said.
Ariyalur and Perambalur, two districts in central Tamil Nadu had maintained single digit cases all this time. No more. In the last four days, the number has shot up from eight to 34 in Ariyalur and from nine to 36 in Perambalur. And, they are all linked to Koyambedu.
Since there are few job opportunities for villagers in these two districts, they do odd jobs in the Koyambedu market to supplement the income from their farmland.
