UP announces easing of corona curfew in 55 dists
No relaxation in Lucknow, 19 other districts with more than 600 active cases
LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday announced relaxation of the ongoing statewide partial corona curfew on weekdays in districts with less than 600 active Covid cases with effect from 7am on June 1. There are 55 such districts in the state at present.
The relaxation will not apply to 20 other districts, including Lucknow, as they have more than 600 active cases. The weekend curfew (Saturdays and Sundays) and the night curfew (7pm to 7am) will continue statewide as before. Also, there will be no easing of the curbs in any of the containment zones in the state.
This is the first time the government announced the relaxations since the partial corona curfew was introduced on April 30. It was extended several times thereafter. The last extension was till 7am on May 31.
UP chief secretary RK Tiwari made the announcement about the relaxation and issued detailed orders, including guidelines.
The order highlighted: “Relaxations will automatically come into force in any district where active Covid cases fall below 600. The restrictions will automatically return in any district where active cases go up to 600 (or beyond).”
Going by this norm, a total of 55 districts will have the relaxations from June 1. All markets and shops will be allowed to open on weekdays (Monday to Friday) from 7am to 7pm in all the districts with less than 600 active cases.
“The enforcement of the existing Covid restrictions will be done rigorously in the 20 districts to bring down the number of active cases there. The home department will issue more guidelines for this,” said a government spokesperson.
The decision to introduce the relaxation was taken at the Covid-19 review meeting that chief minister Yogi Adityanath held in the morning.
Shopping malls, cinema halls, coaching institutes, swimming pools and bars will stay closed across the state till further orders. But restaurants can operate only for home deliveries across the state. All districts are allowed to let roadside (highways and expressways) dhabas, carts, and kiosks to function.
LUCKNOW: Almost after a gap of over two months, Uttar Pradesh reported less than 2,000 fresh Covid-19 cases on Sunday.
The total Covid case load reached 16,90,016 with 1,908 new cases and the death toll reached 23,046 with 140 fresh fatalities.
On March 31, there were 1,230 fresh cases and on April 1 there were 2,600 fresh cases. Fresh cases kept rising till second week of May.
Kaushambi was the only district to report zero fresh case. While maximum 112 covid cases were reported in Meerut, according to the report by the state health department.
“The recovery rate in the state is 96.4%. There are 41,214 active cases under treatment of which 23,419 are in home isolagal.
The daily positivity rate is 0.6%,” said Amit Mohan Prasad, additional chief secretary, medical health in a press statement.
Comparing the positivity rate with other states, additional chief secretary information Navneet Sehgal said positivity rate in Maharashtra is 16.5%, 7.5% in Tamil Nadu, 12.5% in Kerala and 3.5% in UP.
“The recovery rate in Maharashtra is 93% Karnataka 85% Kerala 90%, Tamil Nadu 83% while that in UP 96%,” said Sehtion. “Lucknow till now has reported 23,7,548 Covid cases and of these 23,2,666 have recovered. The recovery rate in Lucknow is 97.94%,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary general, association of international doctors.