Thiruvananthapuram, July 20: The Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation on Monday temporarily cancelled the licences of two major shopping malls of the city. The licences of the malls - Pothys mall near Ayurveda College junction and  Ramachandran supermarket at Attakulangara were cancelled over alleged violations in COVID-19 protocols. Coastal Areas of Thiruvananthapuram to Be Under Complete Lockdown from Saturday Midnight, Says CM Pinarayi Vijayan.

City mayor K.Sreekumar issued instructions to the owners of the malls. According to a report published in The Hindu, the action was taken against Pothys after a person who was advised to go for quarantine after the first round of coronavirus tests, was found working in the sales department of the mall. "We saw how around hundred cases were reported from Ramachandrans due to failure to follow protocols. Both these establishments have caused an increase in the spread of the virus.," reported the media house quoting Sreekumar as saying.

Last week, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the COVID-19 pandemic had entered into the community outbreak stage in parts of Thiruvananthapuram, The trend of cases emerging from coastal part of the state capital showed that the stage of community transmission has begun, Vijayan told reporters during the press briefing.

On Saturday, the district administration clamped a complete lockdown for 10 days in the coastal areas of Thiruvananthapuram. The district's coastal area stretching from Edava in the north to Pozhiyoor in the south has been declared as Critical Containment Zone (CCZ) and are under complete and strict lockdown from Saturday midnight to July 28 midnight.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 20, 2020 04:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).