No complete lockdown in Kerala as of now, says CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram, July 24: With an all-party meeting against another state-wide shutdown, the Kerala government on Friday decided not to go in for a complete lockdown for now, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

Vijayan, who met the media after the meeting this evening to decide on whether or not to impose another lockdown, said the representatives of various political parties were against a complete shutdown.

"There were two opinions on a lockdown. Some experts op complete shut down, while others wanted the existing restrictions to be strengthened. I put forward the same at the all-party-meeting and the representatives were not in favour of the complete lockdown. They said that the current restrictions should be strengthened," Vijayan said.

The general opinion was that surveillance in the clusters should be strengthened, he said, adding that there would be no lockdown at least this week as the number of cases on Friday have gone down compared to the past two days. "When a situation arises, a decision on total lockdown will be taken," he added.

The Opposition Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) had earlier in the day informed the media that the Front was not in favour of a complete lockdown. Representatives of various political parties took part in the online all-party-meeting on Friday, where they expressed their opinions.

"The government should not resort to a complete lockdown in the state. However, it can consider implementing a triple lockdown in the regions wherever it is required," opposition leader in the assembly Ramesh Chennithala told reporters.

In some relief for Kerala, 968 people recovered from the infection on Friday against 885 positive cases, including 24 health workers, while four deaths were reported, pushing the toll to 54. Of the positive cases, 724 had contracted the virus through contact and the source of infection of 56 patients is not yet known, Vijayan said. As many as 9,371 people are presently under treatment for the disease.