Kerala govt decides to lift night curfew, withdraw Sunday lockdown

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said that it has been decided to forthwith do away with the night curfew and the "stringent intensified" restrictions on Sundays. The move comes as the state on Tuesday reported 25,772 fresh COVID-19 cases. The CM said the decision to do away with restrictions was taken in the COVID review meeting as the TPR in the state, which was around 18.49 per cent in the last week of August, fell to 17.91 in the first week of September.

On Tuesday, the TPR was 15.87 per cent. Vijayan said if people continue to be more vigilant, the number of cases can be brought down. After daily cases rose to more than 30,000 following the Onam celebrations, the state had brought in night curfew from 10pm to 6am from Monday to Saturday to check the increasing numbers. On Tuesday, the government also issued an order in the evening which said, "Restrictions imposed during night from 10pm to 6am in the state and the special stringent intensified restrictions on Sunday will be withdrawn forthwith". It further said that training institutions that work entirely on residential model for students above the age of 18 years will be allowed to function on a bio-bubble model. "All students and trainers, teachers and staff should have taken at least one dose of vaccine and the institution should restrict entry of outsiders," it added.