Kerala reported 29 new coronavirus cases on Monday of which 21 are expats, seven are people who came from other states and one is a health worker from Kannur who was infected through contact. No new recoveries were reported on Monday.
As of Monday, Malappuram district had the most number of cases at 22. Kerala has had 631 COVID-19 cases so far, of which 130 cases are active.
As many as 67,789 people in Kerala are currently quarantined, of which 67,316 are in home or institutional quarantine and 473 are in designated isolation centres.
At least 127 people were admitted to hospital on Monday. Among the positive cases reported on Monday six are from Kollam, four are from Thrissur, three each from Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur, two each from Pathanamthitta, Allapuzha, Kottayam, Kozhikode and Kasaragod, and one each from Ernakulam, Palakkad and Malappuram.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that 65,564 people came to Kerala from outside the state, as well as from outside the country. Among them, 51,534 people are in home quarantine; 13,864 people are in institutional quarantine and 166 are in isolation.
Among the people who came from outside Kerala, 2,036 are pregnant women and 1,381 are aged people. There are also 546 children below 10 years.
Till Monday, 45,905 samples were sent for testing among which 44,651 cases are negative. As part of sentinel surveillance, 5,154 samples were tested from priority groups among which 5,082 turned negative.
The state government on Monday also issued an order extending the lockdown till May 31 and issued guidelines in accordance with the central government guidelines. Barbershops and beauty parlours can be open, but malls would remain shut. Buses, taxis and autorickshaws are allowed to ply.
Public transport would be allowed within a district with 50 per cent occupancy and no standing passengers, CM Pinarayi said.
The Chief Minister further said that except in containment zones, there would be no restrictions within the district for travelling. He said inter-district travel would be allowed between 7 am and 7 pm for which there was no need to get a pass, but people need to carry an identity card.
Travel to faraway districts would require a pass, he said.