While the Kerala government on Monday decided to strictly enforce social distance norms, Congress-led United Democratic Front, which is the opposition party, has decided to keep off from all public stirs to avoid gatherings in the wake of steep increase in Covid-19 cases in the state.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the fine for not wearing masks would be increased and strict action, including closure, would be initiated against shops that flout social distancing norms. An all party meeting will be convened on Tuesday to discuss measures to curb the spread of Covid-19.
The opposition parties were earlier accused by the Chief Minister for staging stirs and gathering flouting Covid-19 social distance norms. Over 150 police personnel engaged for managing stirs and many party workers got infected. The BJP is also likely to keep off from stirs in view of the worsening Covid-19 scenario.
The Chief Minister said that the number of Covid patients in Kerala had doubled in 20 days. The number of active Covid-19 cases in Kerala reached 57,879 by Monday. Flouting of social distancing norms was found to be the key reason for Covid-19 cases to increase alarmingly and hence stringent measures were being taken in this regard, he said.