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Traffic moves without restrictions in Kochi as Kerala repeals Sunday lockdown
On September 7, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the weekend lockdown in the state would be lifted, along with the night curfew, citing a fall in the state’s test positivity rate.
Traffic movement continued normally without any restrictions at Kochi in Kerala on the first Sunday after the state government repealed the full lockdown on Sundays earlier in the week, news agency ANI reported. Previously on September 7, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced that the weekend lockdown in the state would be lifted, along with the night curfew, citing a fall in the state’s test positivity rate.
Night curfews from Monday to Saturday, between 10pm and 6am, were introduced in the state to control the high number of daily infections in the state following the Onam festival. Kerala reported over 30,000 new cases everyday for several days after the festival, following which the night curfew and the complete lockdown on Sundays were introduced to curb the spread of the virus.
Also read | ‘Kerala accounts for 68.59% of India’s Covid-19 cases’, says health ministry
However, on September 7, Vijayan said that the weekly positivity rate fell to 17.91% for the period between August 31 to September 6 from the 18.49% recorded during the previous week.
Further, educational institutions would also be reopened in the state from October 4, the CM had announced. The state government has said that all teachers, staff and students should be vaccinated before they enter the premises again.
While the daily new infections in Kerala have been high recently, it has been found decreasing in the past two days. The state logged 20,487 new cases on Saturday and 26,200 new cases on Friday after reporting over 30,000 cases on Thursday. At least 4,355,191 people have tested positive for the disease so far, according to a bulletin from the state government on Saturday while the death toll stood at 22,484. The active caseload continues to remain above the 200,000-mark and was recorded at 231,792, according to the latest data.
Among its districts, Ernakulam (of which Kochi is a part) and Kozhikode with 34,811 active cases and 31,362 active cases added the maximum to the state’s tally, while Malappuram followed next with 28,219 cases.
