Kerala govt permits opening of shops in malls with strict COVID protocols

Kerala government, in an order on Saturday, permitted the shops in malls to open on the same conditions stipulated for opening other shops from August 11 onwards, after making all required precautionary arrangements. “…Designated persons shall be engaged at the entry points of the mall to ensure that all the COVID-19 protocols including masks, hand sanitizers, temperature checking, social distancing, and other conditions stipulated…for entering into shops are strictly followed,” the order read.

“Special teams shall be deployed by the District Collectors to monitor the effective functioning of the Rapid Response Teams (RRTS) and to ensure that RRTs strengthen surveillance and contact tracing significantly,” it further added.

COVID-19 situation in Kerala

Meanwhile, Kerala on Saturday reported 20,367 fresh cases of COVID-19 and 139 deaths, pushing the total number infected to 35,33,918 and fatalities to 17,654 till date.

As many as 20,265 people have been cured of the infection since Friday, taking the total recoveries to 33,37,579 and the number of active cases to 1,78,166, an official press release said.

In the last 24 hours, 1,52,521 samples were tested and the test positivity rate (TPR) was found to be 13.35 per cent.

So far, 2,83,79,940 samples have been tested, the release said.

Some of the worst affected were people in the districts: Malappuram saw 3,413 cases, Thrissur (2500), Kozhikode (2221), Palakkad (2137), Ernakulam (2121), Kollam (1420), Kannur (1217), Alappuzha (1090), Kottayam (995) and Thiruvananthapuram (944).

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