Kerala allows schools to resume from February 14

Lockdown-like restrictions will continue on Sundays in Kerala but schools and kindergartens, including creches, will be allowed to resume from February 14 after a high-level meeting held here on Friday assessed that Covid transmission has plateaued at the prevailing high levels. 

Classes 1 to 9, creches and kindergartens will open from February 14 while those from 10 to 12, graduate and post-graduate levels will begin earlier on February 7. All examinations will take place as scheduled, an official spokesman said, giving details of the decisions arrived at. 

Places of worship

All places of worship have been allowed to grant entry to a maximum of 20 people on Sunday. Only 200 devotees will be allowed to take part in the famous Attukal Pongala in Thiruvananthapuram, which normally witnesses congregation of lakhs of women. 

In another major concession announced for international arrivals in the State, only those with symptoms would be tested at the airports. Quarantine rules will apply to only the symptomatic. As for others, they need not do an RT-PCR test on the eighth day of arrival as required currently. 

International arrivals

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who presided over the high-level meeting from abroad, directed the Health Department to ensure that passengers are not fleeced at the airports for undergoing tests, including RT-PCR. This follows a series of complaints from the international arrivals. 

As on Wednesday, only Kollam district falls under the ‘C’ category with intensive transmission. Ten other districts are in the ‘B’ category and two - Malappuram and Kozhikode - in ‘A’ category. Kasargod does not fall under any, and is allowed to undertake all normal activities. 

Three separate categories

It was on January 21 that the State Government decided to categorise the 14 districts on the basis of spread of the disease and case load in hospitals (as against test positivity rate, TPR, alone as earlier). This was the third time that the state had revised these norms with a view to tackling the virus. Any district where the rate of admission into hospitals has doubled from that registered on January 1 will qualify under A category. A district which has registered more than 50 per cent ICU occupancy also will also fall into this category. Not more than 50 people are allowed for meetings/conferences here.

A, B, C categories

Those such districts where more than 10 per cent of in-patients are Covid cases fall under B category. Those where admissions into the Covid ICU wards double from January 1 also will fall under this category. No congregations under any pretext will be allowed here except weddings and funerals. 

C category is reserved for districts where more than a quarter of hospital admissions are Covid patients. No public, social, political or cultural events will be allowed here. Theatres, gyms and swimming pools will remain shut. Restrictions apply to educational institutions too except some classes. 

Case graph trends

The case graph had hit the highest single day figure so far during the pandemic of 55,475 on January 24 but has been plateauing. On the other hand, hospitalisations too have witnessed a moderating trend during the past couple of days, per health department statistics.

Wednesday reported 52,199 new cases when 1,24,611 samples were tested (TPR of 41.88 per cent, down from the 50 per cent or earlier). Number of patients admitted to hospitals at 12,671 cases on Monday had dipped to 11,439 as on Wednesday.

But the State also declared 165 Covid deaths the same day of which 29 had occurred within the previous 24 hours and 136 over the last few days but officially declared only now. It also added 335 deaths from the backlog as part of the reconciliation, a process that none in the officialdom can say will go on till when. The official cumulative Covid-19 death toll has risen to 56,100.