Kerala reimposes Sunday lockdown as Covid-19 Cases surges, TN announces SOPs for schools

As India is currently feeling the heat of the Covid-19 cases, South Indian states Kerala and Tamil Nadu have taken measures to curb the surging cases.

India clocks 44,658 Covid-19 cases today as Kerala contributes the maximum number of fresh covid cases. The land of God has been recording more than 30,000 fresh cases for the past three days post-Onam.

In the wake of the spike in covid-19 cases, CM Vijayan has now decided to reimpose Sunday lockdown across the state to arrest the daily rise in numbers. Kerala has also tried to curb the hike by restricting mass gatherings ahead of Onam and Muharram.

The government had earlier relaxed Sunday lockdowns for two weeks in the view of Onam, the state’s largest festival on 15th August and 23rd August.

Sunday Covid-19 lockdown guidelines

The government has announced the guidelines for the Sunday lockdown, according to News 18 report. Here they are:

• Shops are allowed to function six days a week, from 7 am to 9 pm with all non-essential shops closed on Sundays.
• Only those who have either taken at least one dose of Covid vaccine or have a negative RT PCR test taken in the last 72 hours will be allowed to enter shops, markets, banks, and tourist spots.
• A maximum of 20 people will be allowed at weddings and funerals. No in-person or on-campus classes are allowed in schools, colleges, universities.
•  Malls are allowed to remain open for online delivery. Resorts, hotels can operate with stay-in guests, but only in a bio-bubble model.

Meanwhile, the Central government has asked Kerala and Maharashtra to impose night curfew with high cases. Amid all these, CM Vijayan has rejected the central government’s criticism of the state’s Covid handling mechanism and said it is unwanted in an article written in a party mouthpiece.

Tamil Nadu announces SOPs for schools

To curb the rising cases, Tamil Nadu has announced SOPs for school reopening on 1st September.

The government had permitted reopening of schools for Classes 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th with effect from 1st September with 50% students at a time. Schools will function for six days a week. The classes will be split into batches of 20 students per classroom.

The schools have to continue the online education mode simultaneously. The students who wanted to continue the online mode of learning should be allowed to do so after taking consent from their respective parents. Apart from small batches of students, both teachers and students should wear face masks. Both teaching and non-teaching staff should be vaccinated, and the school should regularly clean the premises and furniture. Hand sanitizers and soaps should be mandatorily kept at school premises.