Chennai’s latest cluster of coronavirus cases emerges from the city’s food bowl, the Koyambedu wholesale market complex. The last two days have seen the city’s COVID-19 cases hit all-time highs, with several positive cases emerging from Koyambedu, according to the state health department.

At last count, nearly 38 positive COVID-19 cases in Chennai have been traced back to Koyambedu.

The city reported 176 positive cases on Friday out the state tally of 203, while 138 positive cases were reported the previous day out of Tamil Nadu’s tally of 161. The city's total tally of cases has totaled to 1,082 out of the state's tally of 2,526.

In order to counter the spread of COVID-19 from Koyambedu, the Chennai Corporation decided that all retail activity would be moved out of the locality, to Madhavaram in North Chennai. This decision was taken a day before Chennai saw a spike in positive cases, and after reports of overcrowding and no adherence to social distancing emerged from Koyambedu.

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As on date, only wholesale selling of vegetables is on at Koyambedu. The entire sale of fruits and flowers has been moved to Madhavaram, as has the vegetable retail trade.

However, Koyambedu was always a ticking time bomb in terms of being a potential COVID-19 cluster. One of India’s largest perishable goods markets, housing 3,100 shops, and seeing a daily visitor count of 100,000 not to forget 600 vehicles, Koyambedu has been abuzz with activity for years. It spreads across 295 acres.

Acknowledging this problem, the Chennai Corporation even began arranging for mobile retail initiatives to prevent overcrowding at Koyambedu, as early as April 7. “To supply the essential needs of Chennai residents like vegetables and groceries, the Greater Chennai Corporation has discussed with the Tamil Nadu Traders’ Association, in the meeting held at Ripon Building on April 7, the setting up of fair price mobile markets across the city, on 5,000 tricycles and 2,000 small motor vehicles,” said a statement from the civic body on the date.

The statement added: “This step has been implemented to help the public in getting all their essentials while staying at home. GCC requests the citizens of Chennai to utilize these and stay home to protect yourself and your families from COVID-19.”

However, this was in vain as the announcement of an ‘intense’ lockdown by the Tamil Nadu government on April 25 saw hordes gather at Koyambedu to stock up on supplies before the city went into a more stringent lockdown for four days.

As on date, Koyambedu is one of two other clusters in Chennai that have seen a rise in COVID-19 cases, including attendees of the Tablighi Jamaat Markaz and 25 media personnel across a local TV channel that tested positive for coronavirus.

First Published:May 2, 2020 12:00 PM IST