Amid Scathing Criticism By SC Over Lockdown Relaxation For Bakrid, Kerala Records 16,848 New Cases Of Covid-19 And 104 Deaths As TPR Soars To 11.9%

Kerala reported 16,848 new cases of Covid-19 and 1054 deaths in the last 24 hours even as Test Positivity Rate (TPR) soared to an alarmingly high 11.91 per cent.

Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court criticised the Kerala government for permitting a three-day relaxation in Covid-19 restrictions in the state ahead of Bakrid festival, saying the state government bowing to traders’ pressure by granting relaxations shows “sorry state of affairs”.

"It is a shocking state of affairs that the Kerala government has given in to the demand of traders to relax lockdown norms," the SC observed onTuesday.

The SC also termed relaxations granted by the Kerala government for Bakrid “wholly uncalled for”, and added that the citizenry of India has been laid bare to the nationwide pandemic by the grant of such relaxations for Bakrid.

The SC said, “We direct Kerala to give heed to Article 21 read with Article 144 of the Constitution of India and follow our orders given in the Kanwar Yatra case.”

Last week, the CPM-led state government decided to relax lockdown restrictions for three days from Sunday in view of the Bakrid festival.

The decision to allow functioning of shops was taken during a meeting convened by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with a delegation of Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi (KVVES) led by their leader T Naseeruddin.