Aishwarya Rathore-
The Kerala High Court chastised the state government on Thursday for crowd control measures taken to halt the spread of the deadly coronavirus in the state.
The High Court observed, “Crowd control is not being implemented effectively in Kerala. It is also time for the state government to make a policy decision on the re-opening of shops.”
The Kerala government yesterday announced that there will be a complete lockdown from July 17-18 across the state apropos the guidelines issued for July 12-13.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan recently warned shopkeepers that they would face harsh punishment if they were found to be violating Covid-19 protocols.
However, state units of the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party came out in support of the merchants, and demanded that they be allowed to open their shops and the Chief Minister should not think he can scare people with his threats.
On July 12, Kozhikode merchants protested outside their shops against the prohibition on opening new ventures because their Mittai Theruvu area falls into the ‘C category’ for having a test positivity rate (TPR) of 10-15%.
They claimed that their businesses had been closed for two months, making it difficult for them to survive.
Kerala recorded 15,637 new Covid-19 cases in a 24-hour period on Wednesday, bringing the state’s caseload to 31,03,310, 128 more deaths brought the fatality count to 14,938.
Also Read: State Board Exam: Plea before Kerala High Court against Govt for not granting grace Marks
