Saturdays to be free of lockdowns in Kerala from next week

New Delhi: There will be no more complete shutdown on Saturdays in Kerala as the State government has decided to ease COVID restrictions, enforcing a complete lockdown on Sundays from next week.

A statement from Chief Minister Pinaray Vijayan regarding easing COVID restrictions in the state is expected today. The existing COVID protocol and categorisation of regions based on the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) will also be changed. The government may consider the number of patients instead of the TPR rate to put the regions in the designated category, where restrictions will be made stricter accordingly.

There are reports that the government is also planning to avoid stricter implementation of the protocol on Independence Day and Onam days in the state. The hours for shoppers to remain open will also be extended. Traders and workers in the state have been protesting against the complete lockdowns and other restrictions which have affected their livelihood badly.

On Tuesday, another 23,676 people tested positive for the coronavirus, taking the total number of active cases to 1, 73,221. Last week, the state had reported more than 20,000 cases every day for six consecutive days.

However, it has also been testing between 1.5 lakh and 2 lakh people every day. On Tuesday alone, 1,99,456 samples were tested. There were also 148 deaths due to COVID-19 reported on Tuesday. In one and a half years of the pandemic outbreak, there have so far been 17,103 deaths due to COVID-19 in Kerala.