Kerala extends lockdown till June 9

The Kerala government on Saturday extended the state-wide lockdown for 10 more days till June 9 in view of the COVID pandemic. The current lockdown was to end on Monday.

However, it is expected that the government will allow partial easing of restrictions as the lockdown gets extended. According to various media reports, the relaxations would include allowing traditional industries like coir and cashew sectors to resume functioning at 50 per cent capacity.

At the same time, beverage shops will continue to remain shut. Further decisions regarding relaxation will be taken during the COVID review meeting of the government scheduled later in the afternoon. It is expected that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will reveal further details during his routine press conference in the evening.

While cases have come down in the state, the rising number of deaths remain a concern. The test positivity rate (TPR) in the state is also in the dangerous range at 16.4 per cent. Experts are of the opinion that total ease of restrictions should be allowed only if the TPR falls below 10 per cent. Hence, the Kerala government will be looking at a gradual tapering of restrictions over a period of time.

On Friday, Kerala reported 22,318 infections, taking the caseload to 24.40 lakh, while 194 deaths pushed the toll to 8,257. Recoveries outnumbered new infections with 26,270 patients testing negative, taking the total to 22,24,405.

A total of 1,36,068 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, taking the caseload to 24,40,847.