Kerala government earned Rs 350 crore by penalising COVID norm violators

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The Kerala government has earned a staggering sum of Rs 350 crore by penalising people who violated Covid-19 protocols since the curbs were imposed two years ago.

According to the state government figures, roughly one fifth of the population of 3.30 crores have been penalised for breaking the safety rules.

Maximum fines were realised from those who did not wear masks which alone fetched Rs 214 crore from over 42.74 lakh people.

The remaining amount was earned through those who ventured out without a valid reason.

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Meanwhile, Kerala on Wednesday (March 23) recorded 702 fresh infections which raised the total caseload to 65,29,093. The southern State reported 61 deaths which raised the toll of fatalities to 67,476, according to an official press release.

Of the deaths, two were reported in the last 24 hours, six in the last few days but were not recorded due to late receipt of documents and 53 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, the release said.

With 903 more people recovering from the virus since Tuesday, the total recoveries reached 64,55,655 and the active cases dropped to 5,091, the release said. As many as 23,238 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.

Among the 14 districts, Ernakulam recorded the most with 155 cases followed by Thiruvananthapuram (81) and Kottayam (71), the release said.

Of the new cases, one was that of a health worker, four from outside the State and 669 infected through contact with the source of it not being clear in 28, the release said.

There are 16,540 people now under surveillance in various districts and 500 of them are in hospitals, the release said.