With the influx of returnees from Chennai and districts surrounding it, Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi authorities have intensified vigil at check-posts and on rural roads.
When the influx from Maharashtra rose in May, Tirunelveli Collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish visited the Gangaikondan check-post on Madurai highway, where she posted additional police personnel and created a facility to take samples from the returnees for analysis. Later she ordered installation of surveillance cameras for round-the-clock monitoring.
When those without e-pass started using rural roads before the check-post to enter the district without being screened, surveillance along these roads were heightened and village-level monitoring committees were formed.
When people started using Kavalkinaru check-post to gain entry without much of screening or inquiry, the Collector visited it recently and established a testing centre with police personnel. Those who enter Tirunelveli district from Kerala and other States via Kavalkinaru check-post are asked to furnish their details and blood and swab samples collected before being checked for e-pass.
“After they are cleared at the check-post, they are asked to be in home quarantine for 14 days even if they test negative while the positive cases are taken to hospital once the results are out,” said a doctor attached to the Department of Public Health.
Thoothukudi
When Thoothukudi Collector Sandeep Nanduri grew suspicious over increased arrival of people from northern districts, especially from Chennai, before the lockdown, he inspected the Thottilovanpatti check-post on Thursday evening and personally scanned the e-passes for a couple of hours. He also blocked Meenakshipuram road ahead of the check-post which was used by those without e-pass and ordered the police to block the road with barbed wire.
When Mr. Sandeep saw a group of 10 people walking towards the check-post after being dropped at Virudhunagar – Thoothukudi border, he asked them for their e-passes. When they could not provide it, the Collector asked the police to take them for inquiry.
“Of the 19,993 persons from whom blood and swab samples were collected, 487 tested positive for COVID-19 and 329 of them have been discharged from the hospital. We’ve kept ready 1,600 beds for treating the positive patients. At Thottilovanpatti check-post, we’ve created an isolation camp for temporarily keeping the people entering the district with valid e-pass. If they test negative, they will be allowed to go home where they should be in isolation for two weeks,” Mr. Sandeep said.
On the Collector’s instruction, QR Code scanning apps have been installed on mobile phones of all policemen manning the rural roads being used by fake e-pass-holders.
“So far, 188 Maharashtra and Gujarat returnees have tested positive for COVID -19 and 89 persons from Chennai and Chengelpattu districts are found to have the viral infection. And, 50 more, who were in touch with these people, too manifest COVID-19 symptoms. So we’re intensifying vigil,” Mr. Sandeep said.
