The district administration has extended the ongoing lockdown in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation limit until further orders. There are, however, a number of relaxations to the existing restrictions.
In one of the major relaxations, hotels and restaurants have been allowed to function for parcel services from take-away counters. No in-house dining is permitted. Home delivery is permitted in non-containment zone. All shops could remain open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., adhering to COVID-19 protocols. All shops have to keep a time slot from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. dedicated only to senior citizens. Public transport including taxis and autorickshaws have been allowed with 50% carriage capacity in non-containment zones. Transportation inside, outside and through Corporation is permitted in non-containment wards. However, only transit will be allowed through containment wards.
All agricultural, farming and construction activities are permitted in non-containment wards of the Corporation. All congested market places will be allowed to function with strict entry-exit protocols. The maximum number of persons permitted at any point of time into the market will be fixed and regulated by the police. Hypermarkets, malls, salons, spas and beauty parlours will not be allowed to open until further orders. All Central and State government offices are permitted to be opened with maximum one third of the staff. All meetings should be convened through online platform as far as possible. All essential offices including government press will be functional. All offices of the private enterprises could be opened but with maximum presence of 25% of the staff. All other staff will have to continue to work from home only.
The public exams in all educational institutions within the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation stands suspended. Cinema halls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, auditoriums, bars, assembly halls and similar places shall remain closed until further orders. The existing Critical Containment Zone in Coastal areas will continue to be under complete lockdown until August 6. Containment zones within and outside the city corporation limits will continue to be in force until further orders. The new relaxations will not be applicable in these wards.
Wards which declared as Coastal Critical Containment Zone and continue to remain so are Pallithura, Poundkadavu, Sangumugham, Vallakadavu, Vettukadu, Valiyathura, Muttathara, Beemapally, Beemapally East, Manikyavilakam, Puthenpally, Poonthura, Thiruvallom, Vellar, Harbour, Vizhinjam, Kottapuram and Mulloor. Wards which are declared as Containment Zones and continue to remain so until further orders are Kazhakkoottam, Cheruvaikkal, Ulloor, Powdikonam, Njandoorkonam, Pattom, Muttada, Kudappanakkunnu, Kowdiar, Kunnukuzhy, Thycaud, Karamana, Venganoor, Chala, Thampanoor and Kadakampally.
Only essential services will be allowed and movement of people inside and outside of these wards will be regulated by single entry and exit point. The Incident Commander and Tahsildar have been entrusted to ensure strict containment activities. The coastal zone has been divided into three zones for effective implementation of lockdown as Zone I from Edava to Perumathura, Zone II from Perumathura to Vizhinjam and Zone III from Vizhinjam to Pozhiyoor. IAS officers Divya S. Iyer and Srividya have been posted as incident commanders in the three regions.
