Chennai: Koyambedu market for vegetables, fruits and flowers, one of the largest in the country that used to teem with thousands of people every day here, has emerged as the latest hotspot for Covid-19 cases in Tamilnadu.
Of the total 4,361 active Covid-19 cases as on date in Tamilnadu, 1,589 were linked to the Koyambedu market, officials said.
The market for vegetables, flowers and fruits here is seen as the biggest hotspot for the spread of the contagion in Tamilnadu eclipsing the earlier single source (a Delhi Tablighi Jamaat event in which about 1,500 people from Tamilnadu had taken part in March) for the dispersion of the virus.
The development has prompted authorities to shift the market -spread over 295 acres with over 3,000 outlets to suburban Tirumazhisai. The market is barred for public now.
On why the market has become a hotspot, a public health expert said that the spread happened among traders and it was not strange as they were in direct contact with a host of others like vendors and truck drivers with a history of continuous travel to several regions with high Covid-19 cases like Maharashtra.
Closing down the market or scaling down operations at the initial stage of lockdown as in the case of other segments was not possible as vegetable was a food staple and such a measure may have scared people, he said.
Hence, the available option of imposing regulations, stipulating social distancing, personal hygiene and protection measures like wearing masks were relentlessly enforced by the authorities, he pointed out.
Ever since a vegetable vendor tested positive from the market last week, Greater Chennai Corporation authorities stepped up surveillance and deployed a team of health personnel and a mobile van for testing purposes.
Besides the vendor, another flower dealer and a hairdresser in the market’s vicinity had tested positive for the coronavirus during the same period and following such cases, a new high in the number of infections among those linked to the market is now being witnessed.
Also, effective last Thursday, retail trade was disallowed and flower and fruit vendors too scaled down their operations.
Since the market has become a concern for authorities, State Disaster Response Force and Armed Reserve personnel were deployed as part of efforts to regulate movement of traders and help prevent the further spread of the contagion.
After inspecting the market, Commissioner of Revenue Administration and special nodal officer here for Covid-19 initiatives here, J Radhakrishnan told reporters that focused testing was on at the market place under which all the employees were being tested. In view of targeted testing, the number of positive cases was likely to go up, he said, adding that however the rise in numbers was not a cause for concern as all anti-Covid-19 efforts were being taken by the government.
Pointing out that several people who tested positive were asymptomatic, he said arrangements were on to house such patients in facilities like colleges and the Trade Centre at Nandambakkam, which are designated as Covid Care Centres, rather than in hospitals.
(Inputs from PTI)
