THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of test positivity rate (TPR) inching close to 12% the state government on Tuesday decided to continue with lockdown restrictions for one more week.
The review meeting chaired by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan also decided to conduct three lakh tests on Friday.
There were reports that the government is considering to provide relaxations in local bodies with TPR below15% and that even weekend restrictions will be lifted. But as the TPR has risen above 11% in the last two days the curbs will continue.
Relaxations granted for Bakrid will end on Tuesday night and from Wednesday the restrictions which were earlier in place will come into effect. The traders’ body and the state branch of Indian Medical Association have been demanding to open shops on all days to reduce crowding. They have been pointing out that decision to allow shops to open only on three days has had a negative effect with shops getting crowded.
The collective opinion at the review meeting was that there should be no let down in restrictions especially when the TPR is increasing. Vijayan urged in the meeting that district administrations should make effective interventions to bring down the TPR.
He also urged the local self government department to effectively impose the micro containment in local bodies with high TPRs. He also made it clear that facilities should be arranged for the plantation labourers who are coming from across the border to plantations in Idukki to stay within the state itself for avoiding daily travel.
The state reported as many as16,848 new Covid-19 cases and 104 deaths in the past 24 hours taking the active caseload to 1,26,398 and related death toll to15,512, respectively. At the same time, with 12,052 fresh recoveries, the total number of recovered persons have reached 30,45,310. The TPR is at present at11.91%. As many as 1,41,431 samples were tested for coronavirus in the past 24 hours and a total of 2,55,72,679 samples have been tested till now.
Among the new cases, 15,855 have been infected through local spread. The contact source of infection was not traceable for 783 people. There are 101 healthcare professionals among those infected while 31 people have arrived from outside the state.
Malappuram reported the highest number of cases at 2,752 followed by Thrissur (1,929), Ernakulam (1,901), Kozhikode (1,689), Kollam (1,556), Palakkad (1,237), Kottayam (1,101), Thiruvananthapuram (1,055), Alappuzha (905), Kannur (873), Kasaragod (643), Pathanamthitta (517), Wayanad 450 and Idukki (240).
There are 83 local bodies with TPR below 5%, 384 with TPR between 5% -10%, 362 with TPR between 10%-15% and 205 with TPR above 15% in the state.
