KERALA GOVT ANNOUNCES NEW COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS AS CASES SURGE

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala government on Thursday announced a fresh set of restrictions to arrest the spread of Covid-19, a day after the Union ministry of home affairs further relaxed the norms put in place early last year.

Addressing mediapersons, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that while the situation in the state was serious, the government was taking steps to contain the surge.

On Thursday, the state reported 5,771 fresh cases, with a test positivity rate (TPR) of 9.87%, and 19 deaths. The active case load in the state is 72,392. In the last one week, almost 45% of the fresh cases in the country have been reported from Kerala. The state’s test positivity rate is five times the national average.

“After 10 pm, [only] people with urgency will be allowed to travel. We have deployed 25,000 police officials for surveillance and activated grassroots health machinery,” the CM said while announcing the new “Back to Basics” programme to contain the pandemic. The CM said that a complete lockdown was not feasible at this juncture.

The daily test rate will be hiked to 100,000 and at least 75% tests will be conducted by the RT-PCR method, the CM said.

Experts earlier questioned the state’s dependence on the rapid antigen tests. Of the 9,459,222 tests conducted in the state, about 66% were rapid antigen tests, data from the state health ministry shows.

“After last month’s local body elections people lowered their guard...and after the arrival of the vaccine many thought remedy is around,” Vijayan said.