THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A special meeting of the Kerala cabinet held on Monday decided not to implement a total lockdown in the state despite a huge surge in COVID-19 cases. The decision comes three days after the government convened an all-party meeting which was also not in favour of a total lockdown.
Instead, steps will be taken to strengthen the containment measures in worst-affected areas of the state. The cabinet meeting, which was held through video-conferencing, agreed that a total lockdown in the state would only put people to a lot of hardship.
In the wake of a number of cases also being reported from areas that have not yet been identified as clusters, the cabinet decided to increase testing and preventive measures in such areas.
The cabinet also decided to recommend to the Governor to promulgate an ordinance extending the time-frame for passing the Finance Bill for 2020-21. The government had planned a special session of the Assembly on July 27 but postponed it owing to the worsening COVID-19 situation.