New restrictions and relaxations have been announced for the weekend in Kerala.
In addition to the state-wider lockdown already in place, the government of Kerala announced on Thursday, 10 June that further restrictions will be introduced on 11 and 12 June. On 8 May, the state government imposed the lockdown and was repeatedly extended. Currently, the lockdown is until 16 June. Within the additional weekend restrictions, taking parcels from hotels and restaurants is not allowed, and only home delivery is permitted. However, during this period the government announced some relaxation. Building work shall be permitted on 12 and 13 June according to stringent COVID-19 standards.
On Friday, 11 June, mobile phone repair stores are allowed to be open along with other electronic repair stores. Paperwork, jewelry, footwear, textile shops, and opticians may only operate from 7 am until 7 pm on Friday. According to the current guidelines, shops that sell essential materials are allowed to work every day. Banks are permitted to operate on other days – on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. CEO Pinarayi Vijayan had previously said that all government and part of the government, public sector organizations, corporations, and commissions will be able to start working with 55% of staff following June 17th.
Kerala reported 14,424 new COVID-19 cases and 194 deaths on Friday, taking the caseload to 26,58,565 and the death toll to 10,631. A total of 17,994 people recuperated from the disease on this day, taking the tally of those who have recovered from COVID-19 in the state to 25,42,242. Currently, there are 1,35,298 people under treatment for the disease.
State Health Minister Veena George said the state tested 1,07,250 samples in the last 24 hours, and the test positivity rate was 13.45%.As of friday, the state has tested 2,09,10,418 samples. Among the districts, Thiruvananthapuram recorded the highest number of cases, (2,030), followed by Kollam (1,605) and Malappuram (1,597).
“Out of those found infected on friday 109 reached the state from outside, while 13,535 contracted the disease through their contacts. The source of infection of 718 are yet to be traced and 62 health workers are also among the infected,” the minister said in a statement.
