Almost a year after the flare-up of the Covid-19 pandemic in India, the first ever Covid case was reported in the Lakshadweep Islands on Monday. Till date Lakshadweep Islands was covid-free but a new case is now raising panic among the citizens.
Reportedly, the Covid-tainted individual belonging to the India Reserve Batallion, had left for Kavaratti by long voyage via ship from Kochi on January 3 and tested positive on Monday. He is certifiably not an occupant of the islands, sources stated.
The case has been detected about fourteen days after the Lakshadweep government updated Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) by relaxing the compulsory quarantine rule for those coming from Kochi.
In a bid to curb further spread of infection, the administration has ordained all those who had come in contact with the man to self isolate.The blood samples of his primary contacts have been acquired for medical examination, officials said.
The administration also cancelled all the inter-island movements, including ships from Tuesday. In a recent notification released, the government had announced that anyone can visit the islands from the mainland with a negative RT-PCR test report obtained 48 hours before travel.