The Kerala government on Saturday announced additional guidelines in view of the Covid-19 pandemic in the state, offering some relaxations for those who are now fully immunised against the disease. The guidelines from the government came in the wake of more than 90% of the population in the state being jabbed with at least one dose of the vaccine.
Among major announcements, the state government said that its previous order restricting the movement of people who have not taken even one dose of the vaccine has been repealed. “The condition…restricting the movement of persons who have not taken at least one dose of COVID vaccine/ not in possession of RTPCR negative certificate / not in possession of COVID positive test results which is one month old etc. stands withdrawn,” the order from the government said.
Further, hotels, restaurants, clubs and bars have now been allowed for in-house dining with only 50% of the seating capacity occupied and only for people vaccinated fully. Also, the relaxation is conditional that all employees there are also fully immunised against the disease.
Meanwhile, similar orders have also been issued for stadiums and swimming pools in the state, which is again conditional that all users of such facilities and the employees are fully vaccinated against the disease.
“The restrictions for entry into establishments…shall not be made applicable to those who are below 18 years of age as they are not eligible for vaccination at present,” the order, signed by state chief secretary VP Joy, also said.
The state has set itself the target of vaccinating 100% of its eligible population with at least one dose of the vaccine by September 30, a deadline that is fast approaching. Additionally, it is also occupied with the task of reopening educational institutions (higher educational institutes on October 4, classes 1 to 7, 10 and 12 on November 1) and relevant ministries have been discussing the issue regularly, according to the previous updates by state health minister Veena George.
On Saturday, 16,671 more people tested positive for the disease and so far, 4,613,937 total confirmed cases have been reported from Kerala. Meanwhile, 24,438 people have succumbed to the illness so far, of whom, 120 fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, according to a bulletin from the state government. As many as 165,154 active cases are present in the state currently.
