Lockdown: Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu extend curbs as COVID-19 spikes
The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to extend the weekend lockdown in the state till Tuesday mornings. The state has seen a sharp rise in coronavirus infections, adding over 5.6 lakh infections over the month of April. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu has also announced an extension of its night curfew and weekend lockdown. The state has added 2.4 lakh new cases in April alone.
Weekend lockdown till 7 am on Tuesdays in UP
The lockdown in UP will now be imposed from Friday evenings until 7 am on Tuesdays, instead of until 7 am on Mondays, ANI reported. The decision has been taken in the wake of the COVID-19 situation. On Wednesday, UP had reported a record number of single-day fatalities, with 266 more patients dying of COVID-19. The state had also reported 29,824 new cases.
In UP, active cases grew 27X over April
Since April, the state has added 5.6 lakh cases to its tally, bringing the total to 11.82 lakh cases. Active cases have risen from a little over 11,000 on April 1 to 3,00,041 on Wednesday.
Weekend lockdown was announced earlier this week
Earlier this week, the UP government had announced a weekend lockdown in addition to the existing night curfew. The weekend lockdown was announced after the Supreme Court stayed an Allahabad High Court order asking the state government to impose strict restrictions till April 26 in five of the worst-hit cities in the state: Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Prayagraj, and Varanasi.
TN extends night curfew; complete lockdown on Sundays
The TN has announced an extension of the state-wide night curfew (from 10 pm to 4 am) and complete lockdown on Sundays until further orders. All cinemas, multiplexes, theaters, gyms, recreation clubs, bars, auditoriums, meeting halls, and similar establishments shall remain closed until further orders. Marriage-related events and funerals/last rites are allowed with up to 50 and 25 attendees respectively.
Essential services allowed during curfew hours
Autos/taxis/private vehicles will only be allowed for medical emergencies and to ferry passengers from/to railway stations and airports. During curfew hours, essential services such as the supply of milk, distribution of newspapers, hospitals, medical labs, pharmaceutical shops, ambulance/hearse vehicle services, etc., will be permitted.
Sunday lockdown: Poll-related activities to continue on May 2
A complete lockdown will be imposed on all Sundays, but there will be no restriction on the movement of poll-related activities on May 2, when the votes for the Tamil Nadu Assembly elections and the Kanniyakumari by-election will be counted. Food delivery apps will be allowed to function. Food parcels will be allowed between 6 am-10 am, 12 pm-3 pm, and 6 pm-9 pm.
TN reported record spike in infections yesteday
Tamil Nadu reported a record 16,665 new cases on Wednesday, while 98 fatalities pushed the toll to 13,826. The total caseload in the state has reached 11.3 lakh, which includes 1,10,308 active cases. Notably, the number of active cases stood at 17,043 on April 1. With 4,764 new cases, Chennai reported the most number of cases among all districts, followed by Chengalpattu (1,219).
