Thiruvananthapuram: The all-party meeting held today was unanimous against imposing a full lockdown in Kerala. Announcing the details, the Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan said, “All the party representatives who attended the meeting shared the government’s position that we should not go for a complete lockdown now. They were of the view that a full lockdown would affect the economy of the state and impact the livelihood of the people. But given the current dire situation, they were of the opinion that tighter controls and restrictions should continue. They have also expressed their support to the efforts of the government in tackling the Covid situation in the State.”
Meanwhile, 21,890 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in the State after conducting 96,378 tests. Currently, there are 2,32,812 patients under treatment in Kerala. 28 deaths were also confirmed as due to Covid. In his comments, the Chief Minister said, “The less number of new Covid cases is not a sign of relief but only because of less number of tests being conducted over the weekend. The overall Covid situation still continues to be grim. Since the beginning of Covid last year, we were able to control the spread of the disease and reduce the deaths due to our concerted efforts. It is imperative that we take utmost caution this time or else a scenario similar to that seen in north Indian states might happen here.”
The all-party meeting also arrived at a consensus on the restrictions to be imposed on May 02, the counting day and the following days. Victory processions and gatherings of any kind should be avoided. Access to counting centres will be restricted. The general public should not go to counting centres.
The cap on attendance at marriage functions has been further reduced to 50 (from the earlier 75). Any function like marriage or home warming should be registered on the Covid Jagratha portal. There will be strict regulation at religious places subject to a maximum of 50 people, depending on the space. All social, cultural, religious and political gathering should be avoided. The weekend restrictions and the night curfew will continue.
The functioning of movie theatres, shopping malls, gymnasiums, clubs, sports complexes, swimming pools, amusement parks, bars and foreign liquor outlets will be temporarily suspended.
The CM also informed that control rooms will be opened in all districts for guest workers (migrant labourers). The government has taken the stand that they should continue to remain in their present locations.
Meanwhile, steps have been taken to make the vaccine available to those living in tribal areas. The government will look into the feasibility of the proposal to vaccinate people over the age of 80 in their homes. Vaccine centres already have special counters for the elderly and steps have also been taken to avoid congestion at these places.