Following Supreme Court's criticism, Kerala extends restrictions by one more week; weekend lockdown will continue in the state

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said the COVID-19 restrictions already in place would continue for another week as the average test positive rate was still above 10 percent. The Chief Minister's statement comes hours after the Supreme Court termed as "wholly uncalled for" the Left government's relaxation of lockdown restrictions in areas with high COVID-19 positivity rate, ahead of the Bakrid festival. The weekend lockdown will continue in the state.

The relaxation for Bakrid came to an end on Tuesday. There will be no further relaxation. The Supreme Court had earlier warned the government that it would face action if the relaxation caused the spread of the disease.

The CM also informed that three lakh additional COVID-19 tests will be conducted on Friday. "There will be no relaxations in the curbs as of now. The current restrictions will continue for next one more week. The average Test Positivity Rate of the last three days has increased to 10.8 per cent. The TPR is high in Malappuram, Kozhikode and Kasaragod districts. The district administrations should effectively interfere to control the TPR," Vijayan said in a release.

The Covid review meeting directed the officials of the health department and the local self government bodies to take steps to bring down the TPR.

The Apex Court on Tuesday directed the state government to "heed the Right to Life", and warned Kerala of action if the easing of curbs leads to further spread of the virus and this is brought before it by any person. Pressure groups of all kinds, religious or otherwise, cannot in any manner interfere with the most precious Fundamental Right to Life of all the citizens of the country, the apex court observed.