Three more positive caseswere reported from Idukki, which falls in the Red zone, taking the total number of Covid-19 patients in the high range district of Kerala to 17 on Tuesday.A very popular tourism destination, Idukki, bordering Tamil nadu, witnessed a spike in positive cases from April 26 when six patients were detected infected with the virus on a single day,taking the total cases to 10.On Monday, there were four more cases and 3 on Tuesday.Power Minister M M Mani chaired a high-level meeting of the officials in the district, this morning and said the lockdown protocol will be implemented in a stringent manner in Idukki.The Idukki collector H Dineshan told media that they were expecting more cases in the coming days as results of around 300 samples of close contacts are awaited.With cases from Kottayam and Idukki rising in the past two days, the government had included the two districts in the Red zone.With this there are totally six districts in the zone.Two panchayats from Idukki and four from Kottayam have been included in the list of Hotspots."We are expecting more cases as we are awaiting the results of around 300 samples sent.On Sunday we had sent at least 240 samples for testing.Most of them are close contacts of affected persons.So we are expecting more cases," Dineshan told media after the meeting.All shops, barring those selling fruits, vegetables and provision stores will remain closed in the district till May 3."If any other shops were found open, instructions have been given to police to shut the shop, register a case and seize the keys of the establishment.We already had 14 positive cases. Three more cases were reported Monday night and they were shifted to the hospital.Most of the cases came from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and some are from abroad," Collector said.The district administration has closed 21 small roads from Tamil Nadu to prevent people from entering the state illegally.Collector also informed that hundreds who came to state through such paths and forests have been caught and quarantined.Kerala had till Monday reported 481 positive cases, of which 123 are under treatment now.
