Kerala has announced that the state will not see a total lockdown, but strict restrictions will remain in place to control Covid spread. The Kerala government will press ahead with restrictions on non-essential activities and weekend curfews to curb the spread of coronavirus, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Monday after a virtual all-party meeting earlier in the day. The political party representatives unanimously agreed that no celebrations or victory processions should be allowed on May 2, when the state counts its votes of the recently held Assembly elections.
Only officials in charge of counting, counting agents of political parties and journalists will have access to counting centres across the state. It will be mandatory for such persons to either take two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine or carry a negative RT-PCR result certificate obtained within 72 hours to get access to the counting centres. General public will not be allowed near the counting premises. Meanwhile, the 9 pm-5 am night curfews and the weekend curfews, during which only essential activities will be allowed, shall continue, the CM added. Public transport will carry on unhindered. For private transport during curfews, people will have to state reasons for stepping out.
Cinema theatres, shopping malls, gymnasiums, sports complexes, clubs, swimming pools, tourism parks, bars and outlets selling foreign liquor will be temporarily shut down across the state. Religious places, especially mosques during the ongoing Ramzan, must control crowds to less than 50 at a time. The faithful should be advised to bring their own mats for prayers and use pipe-water to wash hands and feet instead of common tanks. Government offices will function with 50% of staff capacity. No more than 50 people can attend weddings while the same for funerals is 20. All such functions shall be held after registering on the Covid-19 jagratha portal.