Even as Kerala is witnessing the highest number of COVID cases in the country, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan ruled out a complete lockdown stating that "it will create a huge crisis for the economy and livelihoods"

He said that neighbourhood monitoring committees would be set up for COVID-19 prevention comprising government officials, local volunteers and residence associations.

The Chief Minister said that while the test positivity rate was between 18 and 20 per cent, Kerala was able to keep the death rate at 0.5 per cent.

Kerala continues to register a record number of COVID-19 infections with the state reporting 29,322 new cases and 131 deaths on Friday. As per the state health department, the total death toll mounted to 21,280. The state's cumulative caseload stands at 2,46,437 including 38,83,186 recoveries.

According to the state health bulletin, 1,63,691 samples were tested in the last 24 hours with a test positivity rate of 17.91 per cent.

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