Kerala on Thursday announced a complete state-wide lockdown, starting at 6 am on Saturday till May 16. The announcement was made by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. “This is in the background of a strong 2nd wave of COVID-19,” he tweeted regarding the lockdown.

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This came after Vijayan had shown reluctance to impose a complete lockdown. 

“Lockdown should be the last resort,” he had said last week while urging people to go into “self-lockdown.” However, last Friday, he had said that the virus situation in the state was worsening and a full-fledged lockdown could be imposed in some districts. 

On Wednesday, Kerala recorded 41,953 new COVID-19 cases, pushing its tally to 1,743,932. 58 deaths were recorded, bringing the death toll to reach 5,565.

There is a massive nationwide surge of COVID-19 cases as India is reeling under an aggressive second wave of coronavirus. On Wednesday, the country logged a record 412,262 COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally beyond 21 million. A record 3,980 patients died of the disease, pushing the death toll to 230,168.