Lockdown strategy will change after June 16 depending on COVID situation, says Kerala CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said that the lockdown strategy in the state will change after June 16, depending on the COVID situation.

"The lockdown strategy will change after June 16. Depending on the COVID situation, restrictions will be imposed region-wise. It will be implemented by local bodies. Further details about it will be declared tomorrow," the chief minister said at a press conference here.

Kerala reported 7,719 new COVID-19 cases, 16,743 recoveries and 161 deaths today. The state has 1,13,817 active cases. A total of 26,10,368 patients have recovered and 11,342 have died due to the virus, the Chief Minister said.

He said that Kerala has reported a 20 per cent decline in the number of COVID cases in the last week and there is 10 per cent decrease in the Test Positivity Rate (TPR).

"Except Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad and Malappuram districts, all other districts have a TPR of less than 15 per cent and for Alappuzha and Kozhikode districts, it is below 10 per cent. Even though there is a decline in the TPR as a whole, when it comes to local bodies, the picture is not so rosy. There are 14 local bodies with a TPR higher than 35 per cent," he said.

The Chief Minister said that even if lockdown is withdrawn the prevalence of delta variant in the state is a matter of concern. "So people should strictly follow social distancing norms and avoid crowding. People should try to avert the situation where the state is forced again to go for a lockdown," he added.

He said that 1,12,12,353 doses of the vaccine have been distributed in the state till June 13.

Among healthcare workers, the first dose has been given to 5,24,128 people and the second dose to 4,06,035.

Among other frontline workers, 5,39,624 have been given the first dose and 4,03,454 the second dose.

The first dose has been given to 68,14,751 persons above the age of 45 and the second dose to 14,27,998.

In the age group 18 to 44 years, 10,95,405 people have received the first dose and 958 the second dose.

The first dose has been given to 91 percent of the inmates in old age homes in the state. Fourteen per cent have received both doses. Among the tribal population, 75 percent of those over the age of 45 were vaccinated and 12 per cent of those between the ages of 18 and 44.

( With inputs from ANI )

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