The State government will set up COVID-19 testing facilities at airports, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
He said the frequency of international flights would pick up in the coming months and the State had braced itself for increased arrival of expatriates.
The CM said senior IAS and IPS officers would coordinate the pandemic containment strategy at airports. Mr Vijayan warned that the government would be constrained to roll back the relaxation in lockdown regulations if the COVID-19 case load in Kerala continued to rise.
He said the transmission rate in Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Malappuram district was relatively high compared to other regions in Kerala.
In Thiruvananthapuram, the opening up of government offices had caused the hustle and bustle on the streets. He advised citizens not to visit government offices and to transact official business online for now.
He said people appeared to have let their guard against the disease drop. Shops, markets and malls witnessed pre-COVID-19 era crowds. The situation could prompt the State to crack the whip and severely restrict mobility and curb retail trade.
Mask and quarantine
The State police reported 4,320 instances of people venturing out into the open without wearing face masks. They booked 10 persons for jumping home quarantine.
