Kerala extends COVID-19 guidelines, eases lockdown curbs, shops to open 6 days

Shops would remain open and curbs would be eased on August 15 and 22 even though the days fall on Sunday, considering the Independence Day and the Onam festival rush respectively, Health Minister Veena George said.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government on Wednesday extended the existing COVID-19 guidelines with effect from 12 AM of 5th August. Along with this, the Pinarayi Vijayan government also announced the easing of the lockdown curbs imposed in the state in view of the COVID-19 surge.

Kerala's Health Minister Veena George, who made a statement in this regard in the state Assembly, announced that there would be a triple lockdown for shops located in an area, where over 10 of the 1000 people of the population are infected with COVID-19 in a week.

"In other places, shops will be allowed to operate six days in a week considering the current general situation in the state and the progress of the vaccination," she said, adding that it can function from 7 am till 9 pm.

Shops would remain open and curbs would be eased on August 15 and 22 even though the days fall on Sunday, considering the Independence Day and the Onam festival rush respectively, she said.

However, the minister urged the shops and business establishments to make special arrangements to avoid rush and ensure social distancing in their premises on account of festival season.

Meetings would be held with local self-government bodies, police and traders in this regard, she added. Noting that the practice of avoiding political, cultural and social gatherings, which used to attract huge crowds, should be continued, George said people should visit the places of worship considering its area and space.

A maximum of 40 people can visit the places of worship which are generally spacious, while up to 20 people can attend weddings and funerals.

The LDF government had been facing severe criticism from the opposition parties and traders in the state for some time over its continuing pandemic-induced curbs. 

For the past nearly three months Kerala was under lockdown based on the test positivity rate and all local bodies with a TPR above 15 per cent were closed down.

Incidentally, these new guidelines have come at a time when on Tuesday there were 42,625 new COVID cases in the country of which Kerala reported 23,676 cases. Of 4,10,353 active cases, Kerala had 1,73,221 active cases. 

14 districts of Kerala, which faces the threat of the 3rd COVID-19 wave, are presently reporting more than 20,000 cases per day and according to May' 2021 data, over 80 per cent of circulating strains are Delta variant.

The Central multi-disciplinary teams that recently visited Kerala, which faces the looming threat of the third wave of COVID-19, have recommended the need for enhancing testing, contact tracing, enforcing containment measures and establishment of adequate healthcare infrastructure to overcome the crisis.