As Kerala's biggest cultural festival, Onam is round the corner, the State Govt had issued detailed guidelines for the celebrations of Onam during the Covid Pandemic Period.<br />'' <br />''AIR correspondent reports that as per the guidelines issued,  shops and all business firms will be allowed to function from 7 am till 9 pm in the state. This is applicable only to non containment zones till sep 2nd.Public Onam celebrations and crowding in the name of Onam Sandhya will be prohibited.<br />'' <br />''People have been advised to avoid non-essential travel. Cashless transaction, online purchase and home delivery should be encouraged. <br />''<br />''Public markets, malls, hyper markets can function with a limit on the entry of people maintaining strict social distancing and other Covid protocols. Keralites across the globe is celebrating its biggest festival onam, in which the most auspicious day, Thiruonam will fall on Aug 31st.<br />'' <br />''Meanwhile Kerala continues to report surge in Covid cases as 2476 new cases were confirmed last day. The total number of active Covid  cases in the State reaches 22,344. <br />