Kerala favours partial lockdown till May 15

Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 27 () The Kerala governmentfavoured 'partial' coronovirus lockdown in the state till May15 and sought aspecial financial package from the Centre forvarious sectors, including rehabilitation of expatriates whowish to return, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said onMonday. Conveying the state's views to Prime Minister NarendraModi and union Home Minister Amit Shah, he has informed Keralawould have a cautious approach on lifting the curbs after May3 and would favour having a partial lockdown till May 15,Vijayan said here. The state favoured continuation of restrictions on inter-state and inter-district travel and the ban on publictransport till the middle of next month, he told reporters. Vijayan said Chief Secretary Tom Jose represented thestate in the virtual meetting held by Modi with chiefministers since it was informed that Kerala may not get achance to speakat the meeting due to paucity of time. In a telephonic conversation with Shah, he suggested anational policy on lockdown that also caters to state-specificand regional needs. The state would prefer having a partial lockdown till May15 and then review the lockdown based on the COVID situationthen. The state is of the opinion that, in districts where nocases are reported in the previous week, relaxations on publicmovement and public transport can be partially allowed byadhering to all safety precautions, he added.

Informing the Centre that the state had already suffereda loss of Rs 80,000 crore in the first quarter of 2020-21 dueto the lockdown, it sought a special financial package. "If the situation does not improve, we will suffer moreloss. Hotel and restaurant sector has suffered a loss ofaround Rs 20,000 crore. Fisheries and IT sectors have reportedheavy job loss. We need a special financial package...,"Vijayan said. The package was also meant for rehabilitating large numberof non-resident Keralites expected to return from abroad andthe Centre has been requested to book flight tickets for thoseexpats who have low income, students and those who have losttheir jobs due to lockdown, the chief minister said. "What steps we are going to take we will decide on May 3",Vijayan said, replying to a question. The state also sought for operation of non-stop trainsfor facilitating the return of stranded guest workers to theirnatives place in a phased manner. With the state deciding on ramping up tests, Kerala hasurged the Centre to provideadequate diagnostic kits. "The price of the personal protection equipment kits areincreasing along with the number of persons to be tested. Wehave requested the centre to take up the responsibility togather the testing kits and distribute it among the states,"Vijayan said.

He also wanted the Centre to ensure quality quarantinefacilities for healthcare workers from Kerala who have testedpositive for COVID-19 while working in other states.

"We have requested the respective chief ministers ofthose states to provide quality quarantine centres for themand apprised the Prime Minister also about it," Vijayan said. He said the mobile app 'Arogya Setu' brought out by theCentre lacked data from Kerala and it had been brought to theattention of the Centre. Vijayan also wanted small-scale traders to be providedwith a loan of Rs two to Rs five lakh and the interest burdenborne by the Centre.

Kerala has 123 active COVID-19 cases, while 355 have beencured. At least 20,301 peopleare under observation, includingover 489 in various hospitals. RRT UDVS VS