Expert panel to put State back on its feet

Action plan to scale down lockdown in phases after April 14

Malappuram town on Thursday. The proposed expert committee would deliberate on whether the government should increase the number of people allowed to gather in public at a time from more than five, the current lockdown rule, and whether they should open beaches, parks, stadiums and open-air spaces to the public.

The State government will set up an expert task force drawn from various departments to chart an action plan that would help the administration scale down the lockdown in phases possibly after April 14.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked States to come up with region-specific schemes to help the respective administrations to reduce the intensity of the nationwide lockdown without triggering a sudden, rapid and uncontrollable rush of people into public places.

An official indicated that the easing of the restrictions in eight districts in Kerala identified by the Centre as COVID-19 hotspots might be slower than other localities.

High-risk areas

The districts flagged as high-risk areas are Kasaragod, Malappuram, Kannur, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Ernakulam, and Thiruvananthapuram.

He pointed out that Mr. Vijayan had said Kerala could not afford to drop guard though there was no room for panic.

Economic activity

Officials said the expert committee would suggest means to resurrect economic activity without imperilling public health. The committee would consult all stakeholders and suggest ways to restore supply lines, kick-start production and restore trade to some measure, though not to pre-lockdown levels at once.

The government might give a leg-up to online retail, e-commerce, electronic cash transfer and home delivery of commodities, including food and beverage as takeaways.

The committee would decide who should access public places and at what time. It would deliberate on whether the government should increase the number of people allowed to gather in public at a time from more than five, the current quarantine rule, and whether they should open beaches, parks, stadiums and open-air spaces to the public.

“It would not be business as usual. But the government hoped to restore some measure of normalcy,” the official said.

PM’s focus

The Prime Minister had stressed that the country’s fight against the pandemic was likely to be a long and difficult haul.

He had told Chief Ministers to ensure that the public maintained social distance norms to guard against the spread of the virus even if the Centre lessened the lockdown restrictions.