Due to increasing COVID-19 cases Section 144 imposed in Kerala from Oct 3-31

Due to increasing COVID-19 cases Section 144 imposed in Kerala from Oct 3-31

Section 144 bans the assembly of more than five persons.

In the wake of surging coronavirus positive cases in the state, the Kerala government has imposed Section 144 of the CrPC across the state from Oct 3-31, starting Saturday.

There was a time few months ago when the state reported no new infection consecutively for a couple of days, but now the state now has the second highest rate of surging positive cases, the main cause being local transmission among the public.

Section 144 bans the assembly of more than five persons. The order came on Thursday night press meet order which bans all social and political gatherings that had emerged as a major challenge to control the spread in September. District magistrates have been asked to make necessary arrangements to implement the order thoroughly, apart from continuing to seal off containment zones where the virus is spreading rapidly.

Due to increasing COVID-19 cases Section 144 imposed in Kerala from Oct 3-31
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The government order said the curfew-like conditions will not apply to office-goers, businesses and markets. It limits the relaxations provided by the latest phase of 'Unlock' measures, which allowed gatherings of up to 100 people outside hotspots and gave conditional permission to open movie theatres from 1 October.

The Kerala government issued the order after it decided to avoid a total shutdown to curb covid cases after an all-party meet this week. The state's total confirmed cases doubled in September and crossed 2 lakh on Thursday. It is the ninth state in India to cross two-lakh cases mark.

While the state has increased testing, with 59,157 samples being tested on Thursday, its positivity rate has been steady for the last few weeks at 13.7%, as per government data. At 771, Kerala's death toll is also comparatively lower than other states with a high case burden.

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