Resentment among the people over the prolonged lockdown restrictions in Kerala is coming out in the open, with the state witnessing protests like mock marriage receptions by catering workers to protest against the restrictions on marriages, and traders shutting shops to protest against the restriction on working hours and days.
The state also witnesseed several persons ending their lives owing to financial crisis due to the lockdown.
Experts are also raising concerns that ongoing measures like total shutdown on Saturdays and Sundays and restriction of working hours of shops were only leading to unnecessary crowding, leading to further spread of the disease. They suggest that the focus should be on strict enforcement of social distancing.
The Kerala High Court also expressed concerns over-crowding near liquor outlets.
While the government is extending revival schemes for sectors like tourism, the informal sectors like catering services, event management and wayside eateries are remaining neglected.
Kerala State Hire Services Owners Association state general secretary T V Balan said that at least 13 hire service owners ended their lives due to the financial crisis caused by Covid-19. Several families, including that of a goldsmith's family in Thiruvananthapuram, ended their lives owing to financial crisis that were aggravated due to the lockdown.
Kerala had imposed restrictions in the first week of may as the test positivity rate (TPR) had reached 28 per cent amid the second wave of the pandemic. Lockdown was enforced in the state from May 8. Though it was eased after about a month, total lockdown on Saturdays and Sundays and restrictions on events like marriages and working hours of shops are still continuing as the TPR is still over 10 per cent.
Experts suggest that lack of enforcement of social distancing norms at shops and offices during the weekdays, undue rush at shops on Fridays and Mondays owing to the Saturday-Sunday lockdown and flouting of lockdown norms by the people are the key reasons for Covid TPR remaining high.
WHO former technical officer Dr S S Lal said that shops should be allowed to remain open on more hours so that the rush could be staggered. The ongoing restrictions have badly hit the lives of daily bread winners and informal sectors. Free ration kits alone would not meet the needs of families. Many had taken personal loans for business purposes, which are mounting.
As the state government now decided to continue with the restrictions for one more week, the state is likely to witness further brewing of resentment over the restrictions in the coming days.
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