State may end day lockdown

Night curfew likely for 10 more days

The state government is planning to begin the unlock process with more relaxations from June 10, according to official sources.

At present, a 17-hour lockdown from 1 pm to 6 am with seven-hour relaxation from 6 am to 1 pm is being enforced from May 31 which will end on June 9.

The government is planning to continue night curfew from 8 pm to 7 am after June 9 for 10 more days as Covid situation came under control.

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao who took stock of the situation with officials of medical and health department on Saturday is learnt to have expressed satisfaction over the Covid cases witnessing a sharp decline in the state after the imposition of night curfew in April and lockdown in May.

The Chief Minister is learnt to have favoured lifting of lockdown in a phasedmanner instead of lifting totally at one go, which may result in spread of coronavirus again.

The state government had initially imposed a night curfew across the state from 8 pm to 7 am from

April 20 after Covid second wave led to a steep increase in Coronavirus positive cases and deaths. The state was recording about 6,000 new cases and about 30 deaths per day during that period. It was followed by a 20-hour lockdown from May 12 to May 30 when the cases had come down to about

4,500 but the number of deaths per day due to Covid-19 was still in the mid-thirties, from

10 am to 6 am.

On May 30, the Cabinet had decided to extend the lockdown until June 9 but reduced the lockdown period to 17 hours from 1 pm to 6 am.