Kerala Planning Revised Strategy for Lockdown Following Decline in Covid-19 Cases, Says CM

Kerala is planning a revised strategy for lockdown considering the sharp decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday and cautioned against any lowering of guard. The CM also said the state government is trying to complete the vaccinations depending upon the supply of the COVID vaccine from the central government.

“However, according to experts, it can take months or years to achieve disease control through herd immunity, no matter how hard we try. There is also the presence of the widespread delta variant of the virus.In view of all this, we should work together and shouldn’t force another lockdown upon the state,” Vijayan said. He said the state has reported a 20 per cent decline in cases last week.

Noting that a 10 per cent decrease in the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) was also reported during this same period, Vijayan said the government is planning a revised strategy for lockdown based on the declining TPR. “The rate of the COVID spread is declining in the state. The average TPR for the last three days is 12.7 per cent.Except Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad and Malappuram districts, all other districts have a TPR of less than 15 per cent and for Alappuzha and Kozhikode districts, it is below 10 per cent,” the chief minister told reporters here. He said even though there is a decline in the TPR as a whole, when it comes to local bodies, the picture is not so rosy.

“There are 14 local bodies with a TPR higher than 35 per cent, 37 with a TPR between 28-35 per cent and 127 in the 21-28 per cent TPR range.The spread of the disease has come down due to the lockdown, as intended. The lockdown strategy will be changed in the coming days.” Vijayan said instead of implementing the same restrictions and testing methods across the state, it is planned to impose different levels of curbs according to the intensity of the spread of the disease. “The local self-governing bodies will be categorised according to the extent of the disease spread and preventive measures will be taken accordingly.The details will be decided later after further consultations,” he said.

He said 7,719 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state today from 68,573 sample tests. At the same time, 161 deaths were confirmed as caused by the disease, taking the toll to 11,342..

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