Though there has been a slight fall in the number of new persons diagnosed with Covid-19 on Monday in Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said there was no space for complacency as the reduced numbers were on account of the fall in the number of tests held during the last two days.
“The State on Monday diagnosed 21,890 new cases of Covid-19. We also registered 28 deaths due to Covid-19 till Monday evening. There are more than 2.32 lakh persons undergoing treatment for Covid-19 in the State as on Monday evening,” said Vijayan.
The Chief Minister said that two deadly genetically modified variants of the Covid-19, namely British and South African variants have been detected in the State. “This is news causing concern and has made us resort to stringent measures,” said Vijayan who alerted the people of the State that the two new variants were dangerous and hazardous.
Vijayan blamed the Centre, especially the Prime Minister, for not releasing the quantity of vaccines asked by the State Government.
“We are discussing with the vaccine manufacturers directly so as to make the vaccine available to the Kerala population,” said Vijayan in his media interaction on Monday evening.
The all party meeting convened by the Chief Minister early in the day decided unanimously to continue with the weeknd lock down. “The general feeling was that a total lock down was not feasible at this stage because it would pose considerable hardship to the population. We will continue with the weekend lockdown,” said the Chief Minister.
Vijayan asked the people of the State to cooperate with the Government in its efforts to prevent the community spreading of the pandemic. “The number of Muslim brethren who assemble in mosques for Ramazan prayers should not exceed 50.
The faithful should use pipe water to wash their hands and face while they should avoid the water in the pools,” said the chief Minister.
All shops and business establishments have been asked to operate between 7 am and 5.30 pm. Bars, sports centres, clubs, spas, and cinema theatres have been asked to down the shutters with immediate effect.
While extending support to the Government in all its efforts to check the spread of the pandemic, Leader of Opposition, Ramesh Chennithala said the LDF Government was not prudent in the financial management of the State.