Chief Secy's order on COVID restrictions contradicts minister's statement: Kerala Oppn

On Thursday, Kerala leader of Opposition VD Satheesan said that the revised COVID-19 lockdown guidelines order issued by the chief secretary contradicts the policy statement, which was read out by Health Minister Veena George in the state Assembly. Raising this issue in the Kerala Assembly today, Satheesan said that if the new order is put in place, "to but even 2 kg of rice, one has to go to the shop with an RT-PCR report". 

While stating that the resolution read by Veena George had not made a vaccination certificate or RT-PCR negative report mandatory to enter shops, the leader of Opposition said that on the other hand, the state government has decided to open shops. By making such a restriction, nobody will be able to open shops, he added.

Satheesan alleged that the resolution read out by the Health Minister in the Assembly had said that it would be advisable if shoppers were visited only by people who had RT-PCR or vaccination certificates. However, he added that the Chief Secretary's order has made these certificates mandatory, not just to enter shops but also to banks, factories, industrial establishments, and open tourist spaces. 

In the order issued by the Chief Secretary, everything that the minister advised that people should try to follow has been made mandatory. The Chief Secretary's order is against the government's decision," he alleged.

As per the Kerala government order, only those who have taken at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine before two weeks, or who have an RT-PCR negative certificate taken 72 hours before, or who have COVID-19 positive results more than a month old will be allowed inside (workers/visitors) the shops, markets, banks, public and private offices, financial institutions, factories, industrial establishments, open tourist spaces and other establishments. Satheesan said if the order is strictly implemented, then people can't even go out for work. 

COVID-19 situation in Kerala

So far, Kerala has recorded over 34,71,563 positive cases, out of which 32,77,788 have successfully recovered and 17,211 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the past 24 hours, 22,414 new cases, 19,478 fresh recoveries and 108 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in Kerala is 1,76,564. 

Image Credits: Facebook-@VeenaGeorgeofficial, ANI