Kerala to relax Covid-19 restrictions, open shopping malls
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Kerala government has relaxed the Covid-19 restrictions enforced to control the surge in new cases. Shopping malls in the states are allowed to be open from August 11 onwards with protocols in place.
Chief Secretary VP Joy released a statement saying that designated persons will be at the entry points to ensure that protocols like masks, hand sanitisers, temperature checking, and social distancing are strictly followed, The News Minute reported.
Furthermore, special teams will be deployed by district collectors to ensure that Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) are functioning well.
The new guidelines have drawn criticism at a time when Kerala is continuing to report over 20,000 new Covid-19 cases on most days. 20,367 people tested positive, and 139 died on Saturday. The state currently has 1,78,166 active cases, and the test positivity rate is at 13.35%.
As per the earlier instructions of the government, those who have received at least one dose of vaccine were allowed inside shops, banks, and other establishments. Those who carry negative RT-PCR test results within the last 72 hours or a certificate proving that they recovered from Covid-19 in the last 30 days were also allowed to do the same. Health minister Veena George said that these instructions are "desirable, not mandatory".