Kerala government has decided to lift night curfews and withdraw the statewide Sunday lockdown, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared on Tuesday. These discussions were taken up during a high-level COVID-19 review meeting as the weekly test positivity rate fell to 17.91 per cent from an alarming 18.49 per cent and the state has decided to withdraw the restriction, said Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan. The test positivity rate in Kerala now stands at 15.87 per cent.
Addressing a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday, CM Pinarayi Vijayan said schools and training institutes in the state continue to function on a bio-bubble model. He added that colleges, including medical colleges and polytechnics, will be allowed to conduct physical classes. CM Vijayan also announced that classes for final-year, undergraduate and postgraduate students in higher educational institutions will begin from 4 October, while details regarding the opening of educational institutions are being worked out, He added that a decision on the opening of schools will be taken later. The Chief Minister however warned that there is still the presence of delta variant virus in the state, and people should be very careful, he urged. He warned that anyone can contract the infection from anyone else. Currently Kerala has a 10 pm to 6 am curfew at night and a triple lockdown on Sundays. On Tuesday 25,772 fresh cases of coronavirus were reported from the state. 183 deaths were also reported on the day taking the total death toll to 21679 persons.
However, there is no increase of COVID-19 cases in the state from last week. The state had been reporting over 30,000 cases for several days until 3 September, after which the cases have gradually declined.
