“In all districts, both collectors and superintendents of police were given direction on Saturday as per the Epidemic Diseases Act as per the direction of the CM. The directions have been in place since Saturday night itself. The cases have been reported from nine districts, of which the highest number of cases have been reported from Kasaragod. If more restrictions are needed, we will think about it,” Chief Secretary Tom Jose told media.
Following a high-level meeting with the Chief Secretaries of all the states by the Cabinet Secretary and Principal Secretary, “it was agreed that there is need to extend the restrictions on the movement of non-essential passenger transport including inter-state transport buses till March 31”.
Following this the state governments were advised to issue appropriate orders to allow only essential services to operate in the 75 districts that have reported confirmed cases or causalities relating to COVID-19.
In Kerala, confirmed cases have been reported from Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta, Thrissur, Kasaragod, Idukki, Malappuram, Kannur and Kottayam districts, and hence rumours began spreading that Kerala has announced a lockdown in these districts.
Fifteen new COVID-19 positive cases were reported in Kerala on Sunday taking the total count to 67.
Post a high-level meeting on Sunday morning, Karnataka announced a lockdown in nine of its districts.