After analysing the present Covid-19 scenario in the state, the Kerala government declared a total lockdown on July 17 and 18.

“Banks and other financial institutions will be closed for July 17 & 18. Shops in category A, B & C will be allowed to open till 8 pm on the days which they were allowed earlier,” the official statement read.
This comes only hours after the Kerla woman medical student, India’s first COVID-19 patient, tested positive for the virus for the second time.

“She is reinfected with COVID-19. Her RT-PCR is positive, antigen is negative. She is asymptomatic,” Thrissur DMO Dr K J Reena told news agency PTI.