Kerala CM announces complete lockdown in state from May 8 to 16

Worried over rising COVID cases, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has imposed a total lockdown in the state from May 8 to May 16.

Kerala on Wednesday (May 5) reported a record 41,953 cases and 58 deaths. The state government decided to impose a stricter lockdown as it feels the growing pressure on the health machinery.

Restrictions were already in place all over the state since April, but now stricter regulations have been put in place. Services like milk, groceries, fruits, vegetables will continue smoothly though.

Vijayan’s tweet reflects the true impact of the current situation as he specifically mentions “2nd wave of #COVID19” in a two line message. “The entire State of Kerala will be under lockdown from 6am on 8 May to 16 May. This is in the background of a strong 2nd wave of #COVID19,” the tweet read.

Also read: India adds 4.12 lakh fresh COVID cases; recovery rate drops to 81.99%

Speaking to a news channel, Vijayan said, “The situation is very serious as COVID continues to spread rapidly. The death and positivity tally is increasing consistently. Under these circumstances, we have no choice but to impose stricter restrictions.” Though the state’s positivity rate has dropped slightly to 25.69%, the CM has hinted that it may rise again in a few days.

A day before, the state government decided to employ the services of medical students to attend to patients.

Ernakulam has been one of the worst affected districts and is already under complete lockdown from May 5.