No lockdown in Kerala, cinema halls, malls, gyms to be shut till further orders

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that a lockdown will not be announced in the state instead stricter restrictions will be enforced to curb the spread of COVID-19. 

Vijayan made the announcement at a press comference after a 2-hour meeting with all parties and stated that it was a common opinion to not impose a lockdown.

"In the all-party meeting today, the common opinion was that Kerala should not go into a complete lock down. But all parties suggested that strict restrictions should be enforced in the state to curb the spread of COVID-19," Vijayan was quoted as saying by ANI.

The curbs announced inculde, sutting down of cinema halls, malls, gyms, clubs, sports complexes, swimming pools, entertainment parks and bars until further orders. 

While, only essential services and emergency services permitted on Saturdays and Sundays.

Also, shops and restaurants to be closed by 7.30 pm, take away and home delivery will be allowed till 9 PM.

All social, political, cultural and religious functions/ gatherings are prohibited until further orders.

Private transport vehicles also will not be allowed and all have to remain indoors. Especially when it came to holding of weddings and funerals with the numbers to be kept at the bare minimum.

In the all-party meeting, it was also decided to ensure that all the district administrators strictly enforce the guidelines. Currently a night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am is in effect and it was suggested that a watch and wait approach should be taken with the present protocols. 

There was decided upon continuing with the semi-lockdown protocols that came into force every Saturday and Sunday and only shops selling essential items will open and all others will remain closed

Meanwhile, on Sunday, around 28,469 people were reported to have contracted the infection taking the total tally of cases to 2,18,893.