Taxi drivers told to take air passengers directly home

Passengers not to be dropped at bus or railway stations even if they demand it

The Kozhikode district administration has directed taxi drivers to take passengers from airports directly to their homes. This is part of efforts to contain COVID-19 and follows a meeting District Collector Seeram Sambasiva Rao had with representatives of taxi drivers’ unions on Thursday.

The drivers were told not to drop passengers at bus or railway stations even if they demand it. They should not stop at shopping malls or hotels too en route. It was pointed out that the practice would avoid the possibility of suspected patients interacting with others.

The drivers should collect names, phone numbers, and address and inform the district office of the Disaster Management Authority. All taxi drivers should wear face masks, down windscreens, and not operate the air-conditioner.

As many as 80 police personnel will be deployed within the city limits and 142 in rural areas for infection control measures. All ward-level rapid response teams, which visit those under observation, should have at least one police personnel, Mr. Rao said. The district COVID-19 cell is getting around 200 calls a day now. The cell can be reached to clear doubts about the infection at 0495-2371471 and 2376063.

Meanwhile, 5,668 people are under observation for suspected COVID-19 in Kozhikode district. They include 701 persons who were newly added. Seven persons are undergoing treatment in the isolation ward attached to the Government General Hospital and three others at the general hospital. Two were discharged from the medical college hospital and four from the general hospital. As many as 114 of the 126 samples of body fluids of suspected patients sent for lab tests had returned negative.

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