TrivandrumLife>> Due to the recurrent attack against health workers in Pulluvila, the health department has temporarily stopped testing in the area, which is a critical containment area due to spike in Covid cases. Three days ago, a group of people had barged into the Covid First Line Treatment Centre at Pulluvila and attacked health workers. They also threatened to throw out inmates of the centre, who were under treatment for Covid. Following this, the Covid testing has completely stopped at the area for the past three days.
Sources in the health department said that the health workers were facing repeated attacks in the area, which forced them to seek police protection. “The health department has sought police protection. Our colleagues have faced several attacks including the one which occurred at the CFLTC. There were attempts to block ways and threaten the staff who arrived to collect swabs for the test. The testing will resume in the area only after getting a response from the police,” said a health department official.
Three days ago, a group of people had barged into the Covid First Line Treatment Centre at Pulluvila and attacked health workers. They also threatened to throw out inmates of the centre, who were under treatment for Covid.
Though the police have registered cases against the group for attack towards CFLTC, no arrests were made so far. Neyyatinkara DySP Anilkumar said that directions were given to collect visuals of the attack to identify the attackers.
Lack of testing for the past three days will have a major impact over the Covid prevention activities in the area. There was a slight dip in the number of positive patients in the coastal areas for the past few days. Recurrent protest from various coastal areas is considered as the reason behind dip in testing. Apart from Pulluvila, Anchutengu, which is another major cluster, too had witnessed protest from local people the other day. The health department is expecting a major hike in Covid cases in Anchutengu area in the coming days. Already test positivity rate is 35 % in this area.
Sources in coastal areas said that attacks against health workers are isolated cases, there is a major resentment against the way the Covid prevention activities are being taking place in the area. “People badly need the containment status to end as they are facing great difficulty to meet daily expenses, buy necessary items etc,” said a source.
The district has around 43 clusters, with areas such as Vellarada and Anchutengu witnessing spike in cases.
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