Govt spells out what will remain open

LUCKNOW: Medicine shops, surgical outlets, vegetable-fruit markets, milk supply, provision stores and industrial units will remain open during the statewide corona curfew that has been extended by two days till 7am on May 6, the state government announced.

The rests of the shops will be closed during this period. Covid vaccination drive will continue in all the districts as usual.

Additional chief secretary (Home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi said 50% staff will be on duty in government offices. The department heads should implement a work from home system in the offices (for the remaining staff), he said. While UP State Roadways Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses will not move outside the state, social distancing, use of mask and sanitisation will be ensured during the inter-district movement of buses, he said.

Essential services will be permitted in the containment zones and an awareness campaign on protection from Covid will be carried out in all the districts through the public address system. Intensive sanitization and fogging drive will be done in the urban and rural areas during the curfew, he said.

The district magistrates, chief medical officers and superintendents of police will monitor daily the statewide drive to be launched on May 5 for identification of the people with Covid symptoms and distribution of medical kits in the rural areas. The samples of people with symptoms will be sent for tests, he said. The DMs have been directed to set up quarantine centres with the assistance of surveillance committees. Those villagers who have no home isolation facilities will stay at the quarantine centres, he said.

He reiterated that people in the high-risk group — those above 60 years of age, children below 10 years, pregnant women and those with co-morbidity — should not move out of their homes. The state government has also appealed to all the people not to go out unnecessarily. They should cover their face with mask when they have to step out, he said.