THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In the wake of a consistent dip in infection rate, the state government has decided to restart schools and colleges in 10 days.
Offline classes for 10,11, 12, and colleges will restart from this Monday, February 7. Creches, Kindergarten, classes 1 to 9 will restart from next Monday, February 14.
The exams will be held as per schedule. The decisions were taken in a Covid review meeting chaired by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday.
Taking note of the inconvenience faced by international passengers, the meeting decided to relax the testing requirements for passengers on arrival. The passengers excluding those showing symptoms will not have any travel restrictions in the state.
From now on only those showing symptoms of Covid will be tested at the airports. It has also decided to set aside the requirement to conduct an RT-PCR test on the 8th day of arrival. The chief minister has directed the officials to ensure a standardised rate for rapid RT-PCR tests at airports. The direction came after reports of fleecing expatriates.
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The meeting also decided to allow 20 people in places of worship across the state. The restriction is applicable on Sunday when the government imposed additional restrictions. The meeting also decided to allow 200 people to conduct pongala in the Attukal Devi Temple in Thiruvananthapuram. The rest of the devotees shall restrict the rituals at their own homes.
The meeting also reviewed the situation in districts based on the severity of the disease. As per the revised list, only Kollam is included in category C, which calls for utmost focus. Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Wayanad, and Kannur are in category B. Malappuram and Kozhikode in category A. Kasaragod is not included in any classification.