KEY STORY
-
Ernakulam: The Kerala government has imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC ) across the state for a month, starting Saturday, in the wake of rising coronavirus cases.
-
From reporting zero fresh cases for multiple days in recent months, the state now has the second highest rate of increase in covid-19 cases and the third-highest number of active cases — 72,339 — as of Thursday evening.
-
Section 144 bans the assembly of more than five persons. Effectively, the Thursday night order will put a pause on social and political gatherings that had emerged as a major challenge to control the spread in September.
-
District magistrates have been asked to make necessary arrangements to implement the order thoroughly, apart from continuing to seal off containment zones where the virus is spreading rapidly.
CONCLUSION
-
The government order said the curfew-like conditions will not apply to office-goers, businesses and markets.
-
It limits the relaxations provided by the latest phase of ‘Unlock’ measures, which allowed gatherings of up to 100 people outside hotspots and gave conditional permission to open movie theatres from 1 October.
-
The Kerala government issued the order after it decided to avoid a total shutdown to curb covid cases after an all-party meet this week.
-
The state’s total confirmed cases doubled in September and crossed 2 lakh on Thursday. It is the ninth state in India to cross two-lakh cases mark.
-
While the state has increased testing, with 59,157 samples being tested on Thursday, its positivity rate has been steady for the last few weeks at 13.7%, as per government data. At 771, Kerala’s death toll is also comparatively lower than other states with a high case burden.