The core committee on Covid-19 pandemic chaired by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan decided that the schools in Kerala will open on November 1 even as the state reported 19,325 new virus cases on Saturday. All schools have been asked to make necessary arrangements.
The government has not decided yet up to which classes schools will reopen, officials said.
Schools across the state were shut in March 2020 after the Covid-19 outbreak and have remained shut since then.
Meanwhile, hotels and bars will remain shut for dine-in, said a state government spokesperson. Currently, both are allowed to give only packed food and beverages as takeaway option. Similarly, a decision on cinema theatres will be taken after gauging the pandemic situation, said the spokesperson.
Earlier, the state government decided two weeks back to open higher educational institutions from October 4.
For more than three months, the state has been reporting around 70 per cent of the total Covid-19 cases in the country. The second wave of infection deteriorated after the Onam festival in August-end as the state saw a spike in number of cases The state reported more than 30,000 Covid cases after Onam .
The state reported 19,325 cases with a test positivity rate of 15.96% after testing 1,21,070 samples. It also reported 143 deaths taking total fatalities to 23,439. Active cases are 1,80,842 and 26,266 people also recovered, according to the state health ministry data. Ernakulam district reported highest cases 2626 followed by Thrissur 2329 and Kozhikode 2188 cases. North Kerala districts Kasaragod and Wayanad reported lowest with 363 and 452 cases respectively.
