THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After facing criticism from Supreme Court over lifting lockdown curbs before Bakrid, the state on Tuesday decided not to extend the relaxation further.
It has also decided to continue the restrictions based on test positivity rate in the local bodies, for one more week.
The weekend lockdowns will also continue. The decisions were taken at a review meeting on Covid-19 chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
The Supreme Court had criticised the state for giving into the pressure groups to announce a three-day relaxation of lockdown that ended on Tuesday.
The remarks came during a hearing challenging the state’s order for lifting curbs during the pandemic.
The state reported 16,848 new positives with a TPR of 11.91 percent on Tuesday.
The review meeting noted that the seven-day average test positivity rate has increased to 10.8 percent with three northern districts- Malappuram, Kozhikode and Kasaragod- reporting maximum numbers.
The chief minister directed the districts administrations and local bodies in the district to intervene to bring down the numbers.
Strengthening interventions at the ward level and effective implementation of micro containment strategies were mooted at the meeting. It has been decided to avoid the crossing of state borders by plantation workers.
The chief minister has directed the officials concerned to explore arrangements for accommodation for the workers near the plantations.
The meeting has also decided to conduct 3 lakh additional Covid tests on Friday.
The health department conducted 3.75 lakh on July 15 and 16.