Chennai’s Koyambedu Market
cluster emerging as biggest Covid-19 hotspot in India
Syed Ali Mujtaba
Chennai|: With 2,500 (primary and their contacts) testing
positive at Koyambedu Market cluster, in the overall tally of 9,674 Covid cases
in Tamil Nadu, this one cluster having Covid linkage is emerging as bigger
hotspot than Tabligi Markaz in New Delhi.
The Corona cluster at Koyambedu Market bursting at its seam does
not attract the headlines that the news of Tabligi Jamat Markaz- Covid-19 links
did in the last week of March, 2020.
Then touted as a national calamity, a particular community
was vilified for weeks together, accusing it for the spread of Corona virus in
the country.
Since there is no Muslim angle to the Covid- 19 explosion at
Koyambedu Market, therefore it does not have the same impact factor as the Tabligi
Jamat Markaz story, this news is being soft paddled by the national media.
One wonders, what Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi have to say on Corona- Koyambedu connection, as earlier he had commented
that if the Markaz-Corona links had not taken place, the Covid cases in India may
have been much less.
Now with 2,500 cases emerging from one cluster and counting, this
is a alarming figure but no national
media wants to run this story with its usual guns blazing because there is only
juice and no pulp fiction in this news.
During the lock down 2.0 a huge spike in infection numbers from
Koyambedu market cluster came to lime light, when traders, customers, delivery
persons, truck drivers and others associated with the market started testing positive.
The numbers got added when hundreds of those who went back to their native
places after visiting the market were also found positive.
In early stages, authorities in Cuddalore district discovered
12 positive cases and Villupuram 13 cases, that all had Koyambedu connection. After
that hundreds of coronavirus cases started emerging having Koyambedu market
linkages, that the Tamil Nadu government decided to close the market.
The Corona cases were not detected earlier due to the lack of
testing facilities and the authorities were busy with Tabligi Jamat Markaz- Covid-19
link cases. However, in the last phase
of the lock down 2.0, when the testing kits were made available, this single
Corona cluster was detected and after that the market was closed.
Media reported that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K.
Palaniswami blamed the wholesale vegetable and fruit traders for the exploding Koyambedu
market Covid cluster. He said the traders “stiffly opposed” the move but when
the spread of the disease became alarmingly high from the Koyambedu market, he
ordered its closure.
To this, a member of ‘All Vegetable Associations Action
Committee,’ Ram Mohan denied the government’s claim that the market was responsible
for the spread of Corona virus. He said “actually no proper measures were taken
by the government in the last 45 days to maintain social distancing nor he
market was disinfected during the lock down period and that was the reason for
Corona attack at the Koyambedu market.
The Koyambedu market is one the largest wholesale markets of
flowers, vegetables and fruits in Asia. The market complex is spread over an
area of 295 acres and consists of about 3,100 shops, including more than 1,000
wholesale shops and 2,000 retail shops.
Set up in 1996, the complex directly employs 20,000 people and about
same number of persons frequent there daily during normal days.
--
Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be
contacted at syedalimujtaba2007@gmail.com
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