THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A high-level meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday decided to amend the Covid containment plan in the state after the TPR-based lockdown of civic bodies failed to yield the desired result.The meeting which discussed separate reports filed by the expert panel on Covid management headed by Dr B Ekbal and Chief Secretary V P Joy also decided to allow shops and private establishments to function with reasonable restrictions on six days a week till 9pm.
Health Minister Veena George will formally announce the decisions of the meeting and the revised Covid management plan in the assembly on Wednesday. Sources told TNIE that the meeting decided to restrict weekend lockdown to Sundays only. “There will be relaxations on August 15 and 22 (both Sunday) in view of Independence Day and Onam,” said an official.
The government may announce relaxations on next Sunday too as Karkkidaka Vavu ritual falls on that day.A major change in the strategy will be to dump the TPR-based classification of local bodies to four categories. Instead, the number of patients in proportion to the population of civic bodies will be the new criterion. If more than one per cent of population in a local body turns positive, strict restrictions will be enforced there. That means 300 positive cases will lead to locking down of a civic body having 30,000 population.
In other scenarios, micro-containment zones will be assigned to a particular locality where chances of spread are high. District collectors will be empowered to declare new micro-containment zones every day after monitoring the test rates.
Onam events not given nod, curbs to continue for weddings and funerals
There will be an advisory suggesting that only those who have received at least one dose of vaccine or recovered from Covid infection step out in the public as far as possible. Vulnerable people will be requested to remain indoors to the maximum possible extend. The chief secretary suggested a vaccine passport system for free movement, but Ekbal opposed it saying that will be discriminatory and lead to senior citizens going out of their houses as vaccination rate is high among those above 45. In offices and private companies, vaccinated people will be encouraged to work from office and others from home.
It is learnt that 50% dining in restaurants will be allowed in areas where the spread is moderate or low. Existing restrictions will continue for marriages and funerals. Onam celebration events may not be allowed. Complaints regarding rough and inhuman treatment of citizens by police and slapping fine under epidemic act also came up for discussion. DGP Anil Kant on Tuesday directed all police officers to behave gently while enforcing Covid restrictions. Taking note of the complaints of misbehaviour by police from different parts of the state, Kant directed sub-divisional officers to keep a close tab on the working of those officers who are on traffic and Covid management duty.
The government had introduced classification of local bodies based on TPR by mid-June after five weeks of complete lockdown. However, numbers in the weeks that followed showed there was a steep increase in number of local bodies where TPR is 15% and above after introduction of new plans. Trader organisations, IMA, KGMOA and Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad had demanded the government to review lockdown strategy and introduce more scientific measures to control pandemic spread.
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