A lottery ticket vendor attends to a customer during a weekend lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus Kochi, Kerala state, India, Sunday, May 2, 2021. (Photo: AP)
NEW DELHI, May 6 (Xinhua) -- Amid a spike in COVID-19 cases, the local government of the southern India state of Kerala Thursday announced to impose a nine-day lockdown effective from May 8.
"The entire state of Kerala will be under lockdown from 6:00 a.m. (local time) on May 8 to 16. This is in the background of a strong second wave of COVID-19," Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote on social media.
The nine-day lockdown will come into force on Saturday morning and remain in force until May 16.
According to officials, only essential services will be permitted during the lockdown period.
India's federal health ministry Thursday morning said Kerala recorded 41,953 positive cases and 58 related deaths in the past 24 hours.
India has been hit by a devastating second wave of infections.
The federal government has authorized states to decide on the imposition of lockdown to contain COVID-19.
India has been witnessing the growing cases of COVID-19 as the total tally surpassed 21 million Thursday with 412,262 new cases registered during the past 24 hours.
