Kerala government modifies lockdown guidelines; here's what's allowed and what's not

The Kerala Government on May 29  had announced an extension of COVID-induced lockdown till June 9.  Kerala is following the footsteps of several other states in India that have announced an extension despite reporting a lower number of fresh cases.

The Executive Committee of the State Disaster Management Authority has ordered the additional guidelines for implementing the restrictions imposed in Kerala for containment of COVID-I9 surge.

Here are the guidelines:

•  In addition to the employees of departments declared as essential, the bare minimum number of employees in other departments required for furnishing atom en to the questions in the ongoing Legislative Assembly session and employees engaged in examination related duties shall also attend office from June 1, 2021.
•  All Central and State government departments, including PSUs. Corporations, Autonomous Organisations Commissions, etc. may function with up to 50% of staff from 7th June-2021 onwards on a rotation basis.
•  Morning walk from 5 AM to 7 AM and evening walk from 7 PM to 9 PM will be allowed in public places observing strict physical distancing norms and whet COVID- 19 protocols. 

In order to avoid misuse of the relaxations of lockdown restrictions, the following instructions are issued for strict compliance:

•  While shops selling books are allowed. it shall be ensured that stationery shops remain closed
•  Only wedding parties with wedding invitation as proof shall be allowed to physically visit textile jewelry and footwear shops
• While Industrial establishments and manufacturing centers are allowed to function, service sectors shall be permitted to function with work-from-home employees only.

COVID In Kerala

Kerala on Monday logged 12,300 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the caseload to 24,96,554, while the toll climbed to 8,815 with 174 deaths, the state government said. In the last 24 hours, 89,345 samples were tested and the test positivity rate came down to 13.77 percent. So far 1,97,95,928 samples have been sent for testing, a Health department statement said here.

Recoveries outnumbered the new cases with 28,867 people, undergoing treatment, testing negative for the infection, taking the tally to 23,10,385. Active cases stood at 2,06,982.