Shops can remain open till 8 pm, bank transactions on five days, weekend lockdown to continue

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A review meeting chaired by the chief minister decided to ease lockdown restrictions in the state. The working time of shops has been extended till 8 pm. It was also decided to give customers access to financial institutions including banks for five days.

The relaxations are not applicable in areas where the test positivity rate is above 15%. The review meeting also decided to continue the weekend lockdown. The relaxations will come into effect from tomorrow.

The government has decided to open all types of shops till 8 pm on alternate days in areas considered as A, B and C category with low test positivity. In D category, shops will remain open till 7 pm on alternate days. The traders had the other day demanded that shops be opened on all days. However, the government has decided that the demand of traders cannot be met fully unless the TPR rate falls below 10 per cent.

The chief minister attended the meeting online as he is in Delhi. Devaswom Minister K Radhakrishnan will convene a special meeting to discuss relaxations in temples