Omicron Outbreak: Night curfew in Kerala from Dec 30, no New Year celebration post 10 pm

New Delhi, Dec 27: In view of rising Omicron coronavirus variant, the Kerala government on Monday announced a night curfew from 10 pm to 5 am between December 30 and January 2. There will be no celebrations this New Year's Eve between 10 pm on December 31 in the state, according to the new guidelines.

The decision was taken at a meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, to review the COVID situation in the state.

• Places of large gatherings like beaches, shopping malls, and public parks, will be closely monitored by sectoral magistrates and the police.
• Bars, hotels, clubs, and restaurants in Kerala will be allowed to operate during this time with 50 percent seating.
• The government has asked citizens to avoid unnecessary travel.
• During the curfew days, shops should close at 10 pm.
• The chief minister also asked authorities to identify covid hotspots, monitor the cluster formations and they should be considered as containment zones and restrictions should be tightened there.
• An additional police force will be deployed to ensure there are no large gatherings during the New Year celebrations.

Asserting that the Omicron variant is at least thrice more transmissible than Delta, the Union government had last week asked the states and union territories to "activate" war rooms, keep analyzing even small trends and surges and keep taking strict and prompt containment action at district and local levels.

In a letter to the states and union territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had advised implementing strategic interventions for containment like imposition of night curfew, strict regulation of large gatherings, curtailing numbers in marriages and funerals besides increasing testing and surveillance.

The letter highlights measures that need to be taken in view of initial signs of surge in cases of COVID-19 as well as increased detection of the variant of concern Omicron in different parts of the country.