Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said harsh restrictions on travel and essential shopping necessitated by the imposition of triple lockdown measures would apply only to critical containment zones notified by the respective district administrations and not the State and panchayats or municipal Corporations as a whole by default.
The government focussed on locking down localities within a limited radius of the new clusters and superspread hotspots while allowing a semblance of normality outside the perimeter of the epidemic centre. The government had withdrawn State-wide total lockdown on Sundays at the beginning of the second phase of the COVID-19 ‘unlock’ process last month. However, the public could expect lockdown regulations in regions notified by the authorities.
When pressed that the triple lockdown in Thiruvananthapuram Corporation had inconvenienced the public, Mr. Vijayan said the citizenry could expect a loosening of restrictions from Monday. (At present, the police allowed traffic and shopping only between 7 a.m. and 11 a.m. in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation limits. Markets remained closed and entire wards barricaded from the rest of the city.The police had also disallowed poultry and meat shops.
Coastal localities
Mr. Vijayan said the risk of a community spread was relatively high in coastal localities in the State.
The infection had radiated out from fish-landing centres, harbours and market places to homes, neighbourhoods and residential colonies.
The temporary ban on fishing and sale had distressed the coastal folk.
The State was aware that freight movement posed a risk to its containment strategy. Cargo lorries entering the State are tracked from border check-posts to their destination points by the police.
Check-post officials informed local body officials in advance about the arrival of freight, including vegetables, so that they could isolate the drivers and ensure they were rested before they returned home.
The Chief Minister said police officers on duty would be posted near their homes. Additional Director General of Police K. Padmakumar would tour facilities across the State and report daily on the welfare of officers on the frontline of the battle against the outbreak.
He would flag the difficulties officers faced on the field. Mr. Vijayan said the law enforcement would work in shifts to avoid burnout.
On Saturday, fresh cases reported in Kerala was 488. Imported cases were 243, while cases of local transmission were 245. With one more death of a 79-year-old reported from Ernakulam, the State’s death toll now stands at 29. With 143 recoveries on Saturday, the number of active cases in the State at present is 3,442.
Till date, of the 7,438 persons who tested positive in the State, 3,965 persons have been reported to have recovered from the disease.
Fresh cases
Alappuzha with 87 cases, Thiruvananthapuram (69), Pathanamthitta (54) and Malappuram (51) were at the top when it came to the fresh cases reported on Saturday. The number of samples tested by the State in the last 24 hours was 12,104.
With 16 new areas designated as hotspots and 15 other areas dropped from the list, the number of hotspots in the State at present is 195.
