Amid surging COVID-19 cases, 9-day lockdown begins in the south Indian state of Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India: Amid rising cases of COVID-19, Kerala woke up to deserted streets and closed shops as the eight-day statewide lockdown came into effect from 6am Saturday.

Earlier on Thursday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had announced a state-wide lockdown till May 16 to tackle the second wave of COVID-19 situation in the state.

"The entire state of Kerala will be under lockdown from 6am on 8 May to 16 May. This is in the background of a strong second wave of COVID-19," Vijayan had said in a tweet.

The chief minister had on Wednesday highlighted the "serious situation of COVID" in the state and indicated the possibility of a lockdown, saying that the "situation calls for imposing more restrictions in the state".

"Kerala is going through a serious situation with COVID spreading rapidly in the state. The test positivity rate (TPR) is not coming down. The situation calls for imposing more restrictions in the state," Vijayan had said.

According to the Union Health Ministry, Kerala is among the ten states that reported 71.81 per cent of the new COVID-19 cases in the country on Friday. The state registered 42,464 new cases on Friday, said the ministry.