The Kerala government on Friday announced a seven-day extension of the state-wide lockdown till May 30, to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kerala has been under lockdown since May 8 after weekend restrictions and lockdown-like restrictions imposed earlier failed to create any desired impact in terms of the daily caseload of the infected persons. It was on  May 16  that the lockdown was extended to May 23.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also announced the withdrawal of ''triple lockdown'' measures being implemented in three districts  Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam and Thrissur from May 16. However, the ''triple lockdown'' will be continued in Malappuram district.

Kerala has been witnessing a huge spike of cases and deaths during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

As on May 20, Kerala reported 30,491 new COVID-19 cases and 128 more deaths, taking the caseload to 22,33, 904 and the toll to 6,852, the state government said. As many as 44,369 persons have been cured, pushing the total recoveries to 19,38,887, while 3,17,850 are undergoing treatment for the infection. Of the new cases, 101 are health workers, 172 had come from outside the state and 28,176 were infected through contact. As many as 9,99,338 persons are under quarantine, including 38,685 in hospitals.

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