The Kerala government has decided to lift certain COVID-19 restrictions from July 18-20 in view of Eid-ul-Azha (Bakrid) which falls on July 21. All the textile, footwear, electronic, and jewellery shops will remain open till 8 pm in the state.
As per the government notification, this is applicable to A, B and C category local self-government bodies (LSG). The LSG bodies have been reclassified on the basis of the average Test Positivity Rate (TPR) for the last seven days. 'A' category includes those LSGs with TPR less than 6 per cent while the B category has LSGs with 6-12 per cent TPR. 'C' category will have LSGs with 12-18 per cent TPR and the D category includes LSGs with TPR of more than 18 per cent.
Speaking of the COVID-19 situation, Kerala logged at least 13,750 new cases of infection and 130 deaths on Friday (July 16), taking the infection count to 31,30,833 and the death toll to 15,155. The positivity rate in the last 24 hrs was 10.55 per cent. As per the official figures available on July 15, 12,370 more people were cured of the disease, taking the total recoveries to 29.82 lakh.
Malappuram, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kollam are the worst affected districts in Kerala.