R A M U R @Kochi

G H A N A I A N footballer Ste-phen Kwazi Men-za, who has been under treatment for a life-threat-ening disease since March at t h e M C H i n Thrissur, will soon be able to go home.

H av i n g a r -rived last Decem-ber to play in vari-ous seven-a-side football tournaments across the state, players from various African nations were stranded due to the nationwide lockdown.

Menza will be part of the group of footballers who have been permitted to board a spe-cial chartered flight arranged by the Ghanaian embassy on August 22 from New Delhi to Accra. Though he is happy that he can fly back home, he is worried that he will have to shell out around `1 lakh be-fore August 18 to ensure his seat on the flight.

The Thrissur-based Jaya Bakery team, who brought Menza to the state, is hit hard due to the suspension of the football tournaments due to the pandemic. “We are still looking for sponsors, but they are hard to come by because of the pandemic,” said a member of the team. The story is quite similar for the remaining 156 players who have been stuck in the state due to the pandem-ic. Mohammed Saeed, manag-er of the Thrissur-based Usha

FC said, clubs have been find-ing it hard to pay for the ac-commodation and day-to-day expenses of the players. “Fam-ilies of some players are also suffering financially as they are unable to go back,” he said. “Since the matches were suspended, we have been stay-ing indoors and doing noth-ing. The Covid situation is bet-ter in my home country which is the only source of relief,” said Al Minhal Valanchery player and Liberian interna-tional Arko Moris. The lack of any specific information as to when the flight services will resume is a concern for players.

All Kerala Sevens Football Association president K M Lenin said: “There is already a fear that players will stop coming to Kerala from next season due to the way they have been treated this time around. Local players will also get less international expo-sure if international players do not come.”

E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kochi

SECOND-LINE Treatment Centres have been readied in Ernakulam district. The Adlux Convention Centre in Angamaly has been up-graded to a Second-Line Treatment Centre (SLTC). As many as 200 beds have been arranged in the facility.

According to health officials, pa-tients with symptoms, including fe-ver, cough, and mild breathing dif-ficulty, will be admitted to the

second-line treatment cen-tres. However, those with

serious and severe health issues and symptoms will be shifted to Gov-ernment Medical Col-l e g e H o s p i t a l ,

Kalamassery.“With the setting up of

SLTCs, we have upgraded the treatment facility in the First-Line Treatment Centres (FLTC). The ICU facility and healthcare staff, includ-ing nurses experienced in ICU treatment, and doctors, will always

be there at the SLTC. The facility of ICU ambulance is also facilitated so that even in an emergency situa-tion, we will be able to shift the pa-tient to the Covid hospital,” said a health official.

Patients will only be admitted af-ter the visit of District Collector S Suhas to the centre.

As of now, 705 patients are being treated in seven FLTCs that are ful-ly function in the district. As many as 934 beds have been arranged alto-gether in FLTCs.

newindianexpress com05 FRIDAY 14l08l2020KOCHI

COVID SPREADS TO MUVATTUPUZHA SUBURBS, DISTRICT SEES 115 CASES

E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @Kochi

COVID-19 cases are rising in Ayavana and Vazhakulam near Muvattupuzha and Thrikka-kara in the district which re-ported 115 new cases on Thurs-day. Of the new patients, 113 got i n f e c t e d t h r o u g h l o c a l transmission.

As many as 15 persons in Ayavana, 10 in Thrikkakara in-cluding three inmates of Karunalayam care home and convent, and 11 persons in Vazhakulam tested positive for the virus. “The sources of in-fection of all these persons have been identified and we have also taken measures to quarantine their contacts and increase testing in the worst-affected areas,” said a health official.

In West Kochi, the situation continues to be challenging. Six persons in Fort Kochi, eight in Mattanchery, and one person in Chellanam tested positive. The Chellanam cluster which saw a dip in the Covid positive cases in the first week of this month is now witnessing an in-crease. As many as 40 Covid

positive cases have been report-ed in the coastal hamlet since August 7.

“In Chellanam, wards 15, 16, and 17 were the hotspots earlier and rest of the areas were not that affected but now the virus has spread to the nearby wards. Therefore, the cases are ris-ing,” said a health official.

On a positive note, 109 per-sons recovered from the infec-tion in the district during the day. A total of 1,359 persons are undergoing treatment for Cov-id-19 in the district.

COVID DEATHThe district also reported a Covid death. Seventy-three-year-old Aluva native Ab-dul Khadar, who was un-dergoing treatment for Covid at Government MCH, Kalamassery, passed away on Thurs-day. According to the hospital authorities, he had heart ailments and high blood pressure. According to Dr A Fathahudeen, nodal of-ficer for Covid-19 in the MCH, seven patients are in a critical condition at the hospital.

Adlux FLTC to be upgraded to Second-Line Treatment Centre

Trade union strike hits functioning of gas agencyE X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kochi

A widow running a gas agency in the city has come up with a com-plaint that trade union activists are not allowing her to run her firm. Following the stir, the functioning of the gas distribution agency has been disrupted for the past 38 days, she said.

Gigi Dileep, an IOC LPG distribu-tor at Vaduthala under Surya Gas Agency, has lodged a complaint be-fore the district collector, Kochi City Police, DCP and district supply officer alleging that the CITU-led union was behind the issue. The district supply officer intervened in the matter and permitted the firm to function under a cash and carry system.

According to Gigi, Anil Kumar, a CITU leader, demanded a wage hike

for delivery boys from the present `12,800 to Rs 21,800 per month last month. “As we are providing wages under the Minimum Wages Act and are giving benefits including ESI, we hesitated to sign the agreement. Following this, they threatened our workers and forced them to supply only 10 cylinders per day. Though the police provided security for the functioning as per our request, now it is also withdrawn following pres-sure by the union leaders. The un-

ion leaders are mentally torturing the workers,” said the complainant. Gigi has been running the firm for the past eight years after the death of her husband Dileep. As the de-livery of cooking gas comes under essential services, the job of deliv-ery boys was not affected even dur-ing lockdown days. Following the issue, the district labour officer convened a meeting to settle the matter but the CITU leaders kept away.

When contacted, CITU leader Anil Kumar P K dismissed the al-legation that the workers have been engaged in a strike in the gas agen-cy for the past 38 days. “The com-plaint of a strike is baseless. If such a stir is going on, the residents would have come up with com-plaints of not getting gas cylinders. There are no such issues,” he said.

Police take Rehana Fathima to her house, seize tabletE X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kochi

THE Ernakulam South police on Thurs-day carried out evidence collection along with activist Rehana Fathima in the case related to circulation of a video in which her children were seen painting on her semi-nude body, on social media.

Rehana, who had surrendered before police on August 8 after the Supreme Court rejected her bail petition, was sent the police custody from Wednesday morn-ing till Thursday evening. Police conduct-ed evidence collection at her residence at Panampilly Nagar and seized a tablet

from there. Rehana was presented before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody on Thursday. The case was regis-tered under POCSO and IT Acts after the Kerala Police’s Cyberdome reported the circulation of the video through social media. Earlier, the High Court and Su-preme Court had rejected her bail appli-cations. Justifying her act, she had sub-mitted before the court that her children need to be imparted sex education and made aware of the body and its parts. She also wanted her children to view it as a different medium altogether rather than seeing it as a sexual tool alone.

Lorry carrying LPG cylinders catches fire, tragedy averted

E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @Kochi

THE timely intervention of Fire and Rescue Services personnel averted a tragedy when a lorry car-rying empty LPG cylinders caught fire at Neerpara near Arayankavu here on Thursday. Though the driv-er’s cabin was gutted, there were no injuries.

The incident took place around 10.15am on the Kottayam-Ernaku-lam route.

The lorry was carrying around 50 empty cylinders for refuelling at the Udayamperoor plant. Seeing smoke coming out from the engine, driver Rahul Raj stopped the lorry and im-mediately disconnected the vehi-cle’s power connection to the bat-tery. Rahul was the only person

inside the lorry, which is owned by H i n d u s t a n G a s A g e n cy i n Kottayam.

Following an alert, personnel from the Mulanthuruthy fire station rushed to the spot and doused the fire in about half an hour. “Though the cylinders were empty, there were chances of an explosion. We pumped water and sprayed foam on the vehicles,” said an official.

“It is learnt that a short circuit from the battery led to the fire. The cylinders were empty. An inquiry is on,” said A S Joji, District Fire Of-ficer, who visited the spot.

Fire units from Tripunithura and Vaikom fire stations had also reached the spot. The cylinders and the lorry were shifted after the incident.

Fire and Rescue Services personnel spraying foam after a fire broke out in a lorry carrying LPG cylinders at Neerpara in Ernakulam on Thursday

Five women held for theft at closed star hotelKochi: The Ernakulam Central Police on Thursday arrested five women, all natives of Tamil Nadu, on charges of intruding into a five-star hotel, which was closed, near Ernakulam Junction railway station and stealing television sets and other home appliances from there. The police caught the accused when they noticed the women moving with these appliances. Jyothi Raghavan, 25, Mithra Jasvin, 21, Ammu Vinod, 20, Selvi, 20 and Ponni Appu, 18, all residents of Gandhi Nagar in Coimbatore were the arrested. The theft occurred at the Bueau Monte Hotel which was sealed by tahsildar, Kanayannur. The police recovered the stolen items from the shop where they sold the appliances.

EXPRESS READ

Soly StanleyKochi: Soly Stanley, 53, wife of Stanley Thekkeveettil, Waterfront Enclave, Chilavanoor, died here on Thursday. Children: Stancy and Sneha. Son-in-law Anish. She is from Puthussery house, Thopramkudy. The funeral will be held at Fathima Matha church, Elamkulam, at 11am on Friday.

OBITUARY

Though the police provided security for the functioning as per our request, now it

is also withdrawn following pressure by the union leaders. The union leaders are

mentally torturing the workers

Gigi Dileep, an IOC LPG distributor

Cases rise in Ayavana, Vazhakulam I 3 inmates of Karunalayam care home and convent test +ve

CIAL 250 152Keezhmad 100 71NUALS 165 151Perumbavoor EMS Hall 85 52U C College 98 82Rajagiri, Kalamassery 164 133Mattanchery 72 64

BETTER CARE

FLTC Total beds

Current patients

Ghanaian footballers finally get to go home

Ivory Coast 76

Sierra Leone 22

Liberia 24

Ghana 25

Mali 3

Guinea 2

Uganda 2

Togo 1

Cameroon 1

Burkina Faso 1

Total 157

AFRICAN FOOTBALLERSSTRANDED IN STATE

Arko Moris

Stephen Kwazi Menza

V P Sanu @VP_Sanu

Social Justice Long Live! MHRD forms committee to look into the unfulfilled reservation in IIT’s after SFI submitting a detailed report on Dec, 2019. We welcome this decision and appeals the govt to remain vigilant against such unconstitutional scuttling of reservation policy.

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