Kerala Again lockdown: Govt imposes stringent lockdown after seeing surge in Covid-19 cases

The Kerala government has decided to impose special intensified stringent lockdown restrictions in the urban and panchayat wards where the critical spread of weekly infection population ratio (WIPR) is above 10.

As per an order issued on Saturday, the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will notify such areas every week and give adequate publicity regarding it through various mediums. “Special intensified stringent lockdown restrictions will be enforced in the urban and panchayath wards with critical spread of WIPR above 10.

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DDMA will notify such areas on a weekly basis and give adequate publicity through websites and other media,” the order read. “The district collectors will further notify micro-containment zones as per extant guidelines and enforce lockdown restrictions therein,” it added.

The government further said that classes in colleges, including professional colleges, can restart from 4 October in compliance with all Covid safety protocols. The college authorities are required to ascertain that all students and staff have taken at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine two weeks prior to their attendance or have tested Covid-19 positive at least one month before.

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Meanwhile, the Kerala government has also allowed the reopening of schools from 1 November. Kerala reported 19,325 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday and 143 deaths, taking the total affected in the state to 44,88,840 and the toll to 23,439. The state had reported 23,260 cases on Friday.

Ernakulam reported the highest number of cases – 2,626, followed by Thrissur with 2,329 and Kozhikode with 2,188, health minister Veena George said.