State Govt Relaxes Guidelines For Banks, Financial Services

Thiruvananthapuram: Looking at the rising cases of coronavirus, the Kerala government has imposed a nine-day complete lockdown from May 8 to contain the spread of the virus. On Friday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the COVID protocols in Kerala will be enforced strictly with a modification in guidelines for the financial sector like banks. Issuing a fresh order, the Chief Minister said the functioning of banks should be arranged on alternative three days in a week. Also Read – US Determined To Help India In ‘Hour Of Need’ Amid COVID-19 Surge, Says Kamala Harris

As per the order from the state government, now the banks, insurance, financial services, capital and debt market services as notified by SEBI and cooperative credit societies will function only on alternate days during the lockdown – Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Also Read – Complete Lockdown in Karnataka For 2 Weeks From May 10: What’s Allowed, What’s Shut | Full List

Giving further details, the chief minister said to ease the burden on the people due to the spread of disease and lockdown measures, the government would continue to provide free provision kits to all ration card holders, irrespective of categories this month too. Also Read – Karnataka Registers 48,781 Fresh COVID Cases, 592 Deaths In Last 24 Hours | Details Here

According to him, the steps taken for strict enforcement of the lockdown include deployment of about 25,000 police personnel under the leadership of top police officers holding responsibility of law and order, to ensure adherence to guidelines. Stringent measures would be adopted to control movement of the people.

During the lockdown, the chief minister, however, said the movement of goods will be permitted and the construction activities will be allowed to ensure that income sources of guest workers are not affected.

However, anyone violating the guidelines would be liable to be proceeded against under the relevant provisions of the Disaster Management Act-2005,Kerala Epidemic Diseases Ordinance-2021 and other relevant laws in force. The chief minister added that police would issue passes for those who wished to go out for emergency purposes.

During this lockdown, there would also be a complete shutdown of roadside shops selling fast food. The government, however, allowed opening of vehicle repair workshops in the last two days of the week.

On Friday, Kerala witnessed slight dip in the daily COVID-19 cases as it registered 38,460 infections and 54 deaths, taking the overall tally to 18.24 lakh and the toll to 5,682.

The total number of active COVID-19 cases in the state now stands at 4,02,650. A total of 26,662 patients have been cured, taking the number of recoveries to 14,16,177, a health department bulletin said. The Test Positivity Rate (TPR) was 26.64 per cent.

As per updates, Ernakulam district continued to remain on top with 5,361 new cases followed by Kozhikode (4,200), Malappuram (3949), Thrissur (3,7387), and Kannur (3,139). No case has been reported from those who came from the UK, South Africa and Brazil.