Kerala extends lockdown till May 23, stringent restrictions in four districts
Thiruvananthapuram, May 14, 2021
The Kerala Government today extended the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic by a week till May 23, with special intensified stringent restrictions in the four districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Malappuram where infections continued to show an upward trend.
The lockdown, imposed initially from May 8 to 16, was being extended from midnight of May 16 to midnight of May 23 because the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) of the disease had not shown any decrease so far, an order issued by the State Government said today.
Apart from the guidelines of lockdown issued earlier, some additional guidelines have been issued for implementing the restrictions during the extended period, including the special intensified stringent restrictions that will be forced in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Malappuram.
All District Disaster Management Authorities shall analyse the situation within the districts and implement stringent containment measures wherever required, it said.
The order said the sale and transportation of natural rubber would be alloed on Monday (May 17) and Friday (May 21).
Shops selling construction materials, including plumbing and electrical materials, will be allowed to function from 11 am to 6 pm observing strict COVID-19 protocols, it said.
Delivery of books through e-commerce/home delivery is allowed.
Staff in Law Department and Legislature Secretariat engaged in the preparation of Governor's Address and the session of Legislative Assembly respectively shall be included in the essential category for attending office.
"Any persons violating the regulations will be liable to be proceeded against as per the relevant provisions of Disaster Management Act-2005, Kerala Epidemic Diseases Ordinance-2021 and other relevant laws in force," the order issued by Chief Secretary V P Joy said.
Kerala today reported 93 COVID-19 deaths and 34,694 new cases of infection today as compared to 97 deaths and 39,955 cases yesterday.
According to figures put out by the Department of Health, the death toll so far has risen to 6,243, while the total number of positive cases, since the first COVID cases were reported in Kerala and in India in late January 2020, has gone up to 2,085,583.
The number of active cases stood at 442,194 as of this evening.
As many as 31319 people recovered from the disease today, taking the total so far to 1,636,790. A total of 1,014,454 were in home or institutional quarantine or in hospital isolation, the figures showed.
The total number of cases in Thiruvananthapuram today was 44,934, while it was 69,180 in Ernakulam, 56,194 in Thrissur, and 50,778 in Malappuram.
On Friday, over 13,000 cases were registered against people who violated Covid protocols and the total fines realised amounted to Rs 33 lakh.
With regards to the vaccination protocols, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that for all those who have taken the first dose of Covishield vaccines, the second dose needs to be taken after 84 days, while for those who have taken Covaxin, they have to take the second dose between 4-6 weeks. Registration of those in the age group 18 to 45 for vaccination will start from Monday and preference will be for those having co-morbidities, he added.
He also pointed out that basic prices for Covid items have been fixed and it should not exceed Rs 273 for PPE kits, while for N-95 masks, it is Rs 22, surgical masks Rs 4, and sanitiser (100ml) at Rs 55.
(With inputs from IANS)
NNN
