Kerala government eases COVID-19 curbs, colleges & theatres to reopen - Details inside

The Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government has announced certain relaxations on Saturday (October 2) after recording fewer coronavirus cases in the state. The order came on October 2 after CM Vijayan took a meeting reviewing the current situation of coronavirus in Kerala. 

The state government has decided to reopen cinemas, theatres and indoor auditoriums. However, only those who are fully vaccinated will be allowed to take advantage of this relaxation. The order will come into effect from October 25. 

In the review meeting, it was also decided that all colleges will open for students in their final years while regular classes for students will begin from October 18. However, students who want to attend college need to be fully vaccinated for safety purposes. 

Here is a list of Kerala relaxations: 

- Theatres will be allowed to function at 50 per cent seating capacity

- Employees working at these theatres, cinemas etc and people visiting need to provide vaccination certificates for both doses. 

- Marriages will be allowed to only have 20 to 50 guests.

- Grama Sabhas can be convened but only under the COVID-19 protocols.

As per a statement, on Saturday, 13,217 people tested COVID-19 positive after 96,835 samples were tested in the past 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 13.64 per cent. There were also 121 coronavirus deaths taking the total death tally to 25,303.

On the vaccination front, 92.6 per cent (2.47 crore) of the population above 18 years have received one dose, of which 41.5 per cent have got both doses.