Additional restrictions will be imposed on civic life in Kerala to bring down the test positivity rate, which has been hovering above 15 per cent.
Speaking at a COVID-19 review meeting in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the five-day additional restrictions will be from June 5 to 9.
Key updates:
• Commercial establishments, which are currently allowed, can function from 9 am to 7 pm on Friday (June 4). They will not be permitted to function from June 5.
• Only shops selling essential items, and outlets dealing with raw materials (including packaging) required for industrial units will be allowed to function from June 5.
• Scrap shops will be allowed to function on Friday from 9am to 7.30pm.
• Cleaning workers will be allowed to work in private establishments during the lockdown period.
• Government offices, semi-government establishments, public sector units, corporations, and commissions will function with 50 per cent of their staff strength only from June 10, instead of the earlier announced date of June 7.
• Those permitted to travel within Kerala, including delivery agents, need not carry COVID-19 negative certificates. Those arriving from outside the state, however, should have the certificate.
• The government will permit the felling of older rubber trees and the planting of new saplings.
The chief minister said the government will consider confirming COVID-19 deaths at the district level. Currently, such fatalities are being confirmed at the state level.
Doctors should decide on the criterion to decide the category in which a death should be added.
Vijayan said the state has initiated steps to face a possible third wave of the pandemic. He called upon people to continue maintaining utmost caution, and to avoid crowding.
Vaccines for guest workers will be distributed and a mechanism to test them for the disease will be implemented.
All residents of panchayats sharing their border with neighbouring states will be inoculated against the coronavirus, the chief minister said.
The state will monitor mutations in COVID-19 symptoms, besides conducting genetic testing.
The chief minister asked residents’ associations to warn others if any of the residents tested COVID-19 positive. Others should be cautioned by displaying the affected flat number on the notice board. They should also inform the health centre, police station and corporation/panchayat authorities concerned.
Vijayan asked residents’ associations to shoulder the responsibility without fail. Lifts in apartment complexes should be sanitized at least three times a day, he said.
Kerala reported 18,853 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. The test positivity rate was 15.21 per cent.
