The Central government’s decision to allow unrestricted inter-State and intra-State movement of persons from June 8 appeared to have triggered a sense of anxiety in the State administration.
Officials said a top-level meeting to be chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday would weigh whether such a measure augured well for the State's COVID-19 containment strategy.
(The Centre had said citizens would not require special permission, approval or online permit to travel between States and districts.)
Officials said they feared that unrestricted travel would hobble the State government’s ability to identify and track new cases. Kerala has registered an upward trend in COVID-19 cases and epidemic hotspots.
The unaudited entry and exit of people had caused the COVID-19 caseload to increase in several border districts, including Palakkad and Kasaragod. The Central government had given States and Union Territories sufficient latitude in imposing restrictions based on their assessment of the pandemic situation.
Hence, officials said there was no question of Kerala running into a conflict with the Centre on the latest set of relaxations aimed at restarting the country's economy without causing a resurgence of the disease.
Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran told journalists on Sunday that government should compulsorily know in advance the identity of those entering the State by road, rail, air and sea.
Officials said the State government agreed that night curfew between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. should continue, and social life and mobility severely curbed in containment zones till June 30.
However, the government was reportedly worried that the Centre's decision to open religious places of worship and shopping malls to the public and permit dining-in facility in hotels and restaurants from June 8 could create conditions conducive for the accelerated spread of COVID-19.
Mr. Vijayan would take a call on whether such a move would be premature and risky for the State's population. The first phase of easing lockdown restrictions appeared to offer scarce relief for morning walkers, sports enthusiasts and those yearning for outdoor exercise.
Gymnasium, public parks, swimming pool and stadium would remain closed until further notice. Social life was unlikely to pick up anytime soon. The ban on cinema halls, entertainment parks, bars, auditoriums and assembly halls would continue.
