The Kerala Police's media cell clarified that a viral message on legal action against parents who bring their children, aged 10 and below, to public places such as parks, was fake and baseless. The message which went viral on social media, and was shared on WhatsApp as well as Facebook, stated that parents of children who are 10 years and below, who bring the latter to parks or public places (to play or visit etc) will be fined Rs 2000. The message went viral at a time when Kerala has been battling consistently high numbers of COVID-19 cases in the state, prompting the government to clamp down with fresh restrictions to reduce cases.
However, the media cell of the Kerala police stated that Director General of Police (DGP) Loknath Behera said that the message was baseless and false, and that no such fines or prohibitive measures were imposed on parents. Loknah Behera also added that strict action will be taken against those who were spreading this fake message on social media.
Further, the Kerala State Police's Cyber Dome, headed by nodal officer Manoj Abraham, has been instructed to track down those users who spread this false information on WhatsApp and Facebook.
Last week, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan chaired a review meeting in light of increased COVID-19 cases being reported in the state. The state government then decided to impose stringent rules and restrictions to curb the spread of the virus in the state. It was also announced that police will be deployed to monitor citizens’ compliance with the rules.
The meeting held on Wednesday concluded that relaxations in COVID-19 regulations, and the reduced vigilance of people, were the key reasons for the increase in cases. While the CM has announced that existing regulations need to be strictly adhered to, no new restrictions have been imposed, according to the statement.
The state has also decided that one lakh tests will be held in Kerala daily. Of these, 75% will be RT-PCR tests, the CM announced. Everyone in migrant workers camps, cashew factory labourers and old age homes will be tested as well.
Kerala's Test Positivity Rate or TPR stands at 10.53% when averaged over the last seven days as compared to India’s TPR at 1.82%.