The manner and rate at which the State will ease its COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, if at all, will hinge on the outcome of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s conference by video link with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterparts in other States on Saturday.
Officials indicated the walk back from the curfew will be slow and in phases. The return to normalcy could be a stressful process that can take weeks.
Kerala was in lockstep with the Centre and other States in combating the pandemic. Hence, it's latitude to operate singly was limited. The government will continue to restrict the active movement of people.
The State anticipated an influx of non-resident Keralites, chiefly blue-collar workers, when the global ban on international air travel ended. They would require intense monitoring and quarantine and the government could not afford to drop guard any time soon.
The authorities might continue to restrict the active movement of the people. The regulations on the on-premise sale of food and beverages will remain. However, the government will allow takeaways to operate. It has asked Bevco to come up with a proposal for online liquor retail.
The State is banking heavily on a fiscal stimulus package from the Centre. It has sought permission to issue sovereign bonds to raise money from the open market, a 2% increase in its borrowing limit, and an extension of the RBI moratorium on the repayment of loans.
.png?w=600)
