A lorry driver, primary
contact of a COVID-19 patient in Palakkad, brought a load of watermelons to the market here, triggering a scare in the district which has been declared green zone, prompting health officials to trace and shift him to an isolation facility.
The driver, who brought the load from Tamil Nadu, left for Palakkad after unloading the watermelons and was traced in Ernakulam past midnight on Tuesday, officials said.
He was shifted to an isolation facility at the General Hospital in Palakkad, after samples were collected from him for COVID-19 testing, they said adding 17 others who handled the watermelons load the market here have been advised home quarantine.
The man had a history of travelling with his co-driver from Palakkad who tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday, following which officials started the contact tracing.
Initiating the break the chain initiative, officials immediately closed the shop where the watermelons were unloaded and placed 17 people, including the shop owner and wokers who had unloaded the fruits, under home quarantine.
Incidentally, lockdown restrictions were eased in Kottayam district from Tuesday after the state government classified it along with Idukki in the green zone, where no coronavirus cases had been reported in the past 14 days.
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