Participants at all party meeting feel lockdown not needed in Kerala: CM

Participants at an all-party meeting arrived at a consensus not to impose a lockdown in Kerala but to have strict restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19, said Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday.

Meanwhile, Leader of the Opposition in the state, Ramesh Chennithala said, "The all-party meeting has decided to not go for a general lockdown in the state, but containment zones will be declared in places where they are necessary."

He said that the all-party meeting called for a curb to victory processions after election results are declared.

"On May 2 we have decided not to have victory processions in the state. The opposition demanded free vaccination in the entire state as soon as possible. Blood banks should be put on alert so that more blood is available to COVID-19 patients. The government assured that the issues we raised will be addressed properly," he said.

He said, "Negotiations with both vaccine producers are going on regarding purchase of COVID-19 vaccines."

According to Union Health Ministry, Kerala has an active COVID-19 case count of 2,19,221 as of 8 am on Monday to which 20,317 new COVID-19 cases have been reported since then and 8,122 recoveries. A total of 11,81,324 recoveries have been reported. The death toll in the state touched 5,110 with 30 deaths since 8 am on Monday.