Kerala CM Vijayan announces extension of statewide Covid-19 lockdown by a week till May 23

Talking to reporters, CM Vijayan also said that a triple-lockdown has been implemented in the three worst-affected districts in the state, namely, Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Malappuram, where the positivity rate is high.

The Kerala government on Friday extended the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown in the state by a week to May 23, due to the increasing number of infections of the coronavirus disease. Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the decision mentioning that strict restrictions are necessary to curb the transmission of the disease in the state.

Kerala CM announces extension of lockdown by a week in the state. In picture - Policemen on duty during lockdown in Kochi, Kerala. (AP)

“Lockdown is extended till 23 May. Triple lockdown in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram. Free food kits in June too. ₹823.23Cr will be distributed as Welfare Pensions in May. Financial assistance of ₹1,000 for all members of Welfare Boards,” CM Vijayan tweeted on Monday.

In a subsequent tweet, the CM also announced that the Kerala Essential Articles Control Act, 1986, is being invoked "to control the prices of articles required for treating Covid-19," listing the commodity and their prices.

Talking to reporters, Vijayan also said that a triple-lockdown has been implemented in the worst affected districts in the state, namely, Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Malappuram.

Earlier on May 6, the state government announced an eight-day lockdown beginning from May 8 effective till May 16. This has now been extended till May 23 due to the rising number of cases.

Meanwhile, services which were exempted under the current lockdown will continue to remain exempted during the extended period too.

The chief minister’s announcement came on a day when Kerala reported 34,694 new cases of Covid-19 and 93 related fatalities on the day, taking the state’s cases tally to 2,085,583 and death toll to 6,243, a bulletin from the state health department showed. There are 442,194 active cases of the disease as on date, the bulletin also showed. Meanwhile, 31,319 patients recovered on the day which pushed the overall recoveries to 1,636,790.

Thiruvananthapuram (4,567 new cases), Ernakulam (3,855 new cases), Malappuram (3,997 new cases) and Thrissur (3,162 new cases), where the triple lockdown has been implemented, remained the top contributors to the state’s daily tally on Monday. In terms of active cases, Ernakulam with 69,180 active cases, Thrissur with 56,194 active cases and Malappuram with 50,778 active cases remained the worst affected.

During the announcement, Vijayan also said that the second dose of the Covishield Covid-19 vaccine will be given to beneficiaries only after completing 84 days (12 weeks) from the first dose, in line with the central government’s latest directive, news agency ANI reported. He also mentioned that no changes have been made to the interval between the first and second doses of Covaxin.