Coronavirus Outbreak: Kerala government issues new lockdown guidelines; all establishments, vehicle movement to remain shut on Sundays

Thiruvananthapuram: In view of the extension of the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown by two weeks, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has announced new guidelines to be followed in the State. According to the new guidelines, Sundays will be a closed day for everything including vehicle movement. Moreover, public transport, public gathering, cinema theatres, religious places, events, malls, liquor shops, bars, barbershops, beauty parlours, gyms and educational institutions will not be allowed to open across the State. [caption id=“attachment_4935591” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. PTI[/caption] Government offices can function with 50 percent attendance of group A and B employees and 33 percent attendance in group C and D category staff. They can also provide non-essential services. In the Green Zone, shops can be open between 7 am and 7.30 pm for six days of the week and taxi services can operate two passengers. Inter-district travel may be permitted for a maximum of two persons. As per the norms of having no positive COVID-19 cases in the last 21 days, only Ernakulam district in Kerala has qualified to be in the Green Zone. Speaking about the containment zones, the Chief Minister said the zone list can change as per the situation and the containment zones within Red Zones would have “full lockdown with no exemptions”. “With a new case being reported on Saturday, the status of Wayanad district has changed from Green Zone to Orange Zone. Wayanad was earlier in the Green Zone list declared by the Centre. With no coronavirus patients under treatment, Alappuzha and Thrissur districts have moved to Green Zone. Kannur and Kottayam are under Red Zone. All the other districts in the State are in Orange Zone,” he said. Meanwhile, two more cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Kerala on Saturday, one each from Wayanad and Kannur districts. “There are 499 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Kerala and 96 patients are under treatment in different districts in the State,” the Chief Minister said.