The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to impose fresh restrictions of 55 hours in the state from this evening amid spurt in Covid-19 cases. The restrictions will be in place from 10 PM today till 5 AM on 13th July.
As per the directions issued by Chief Secretary of State RK Tiwari, All offices, business institutions, and markets in urban and rural areas across the state will be closed during the restriction period. Although All emergency services will continue as usual.
Apart from the continuous working units in urban areas and industrial units in rural areas, all other industrial activities will be closed. These restrictions will not affect rail and air services along with movement on national highways and road transportation including goods services.
On these three days that is 10,11 and 12 july a massive sanitization and clean water supply campaign will be launched across the state. Through a public address system an awareness campaign will also be launched regarding covid-19 and other communicable diseases.
Chief Secretary of Uttar Pradesh RK Tiwari said that these 55 hours long restrictions which are starting from 10 PM today should not be considered as lock down and there is no need to panic. He categorically denied the rumours of the extension of restrictions and said that the restrictions will end at 5 AM on Monday.
He said that during this period a massive sanitization campaign will be launched so that in the rainy season there will be no spread of other communicable diseases along with covid-19. He said health teams will also continue the screening work for early identification of suspected covid patients.
He appealed to the general public of Uttar Pradesh through the All India Radio that they should follow these restrictions strictly and if they feel that they are having any symptoms of covid-19 then they must contact the nearest hospital and can also take the help of covid desks which are established in all cities of state.
In Bihar, a complete lockdown has been imposed in ten districts of the state today due to alarming spike in Covid-19 cases. Three-day lockdown has been imposed in four districts of Buxar,Nawada Supaul and Kishanganj. In Khagaria, lockdown has been ordered for five days till 14th of this month. In Patna, Munger, Madhepura, Kaimur and Purnea districts lockdown will continue till 16th of this month.
The State government has also ordered a complete lockdown in districts of Begusarai, Nalanda and Vaishali for six days starting from tomorrow.
During the ongoing lockdown Government offices and Public corporations will remain closed. All private and commercial establishments will also remain closed. Ration shops, dairy, Vegetables and meat shops will remain open between 6 am and 10 am and from 4 pm to 7 pm. All places of worship will be closed and there will be no religious gatherings.
All kinds of e-commerce and home delivery have been allowed. Public transport services are allowed in the lockdown period. However, private vehicles will be limited to essential works only. Train and flight services have been allowed.
Wearing masks has been made mandatory for all. 14 days home quarantine has been made necessary for all rail passengers who come into the state. Railways has deployed two Covid 19 care rakes each comprising 21 coaches at two platforms of Patna Junction.
The state recorded 704 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 13,978 meanwhile 9,792 persons have recovered so far. 4076 patients are undergoing treatment at various hospitals. Recovery rate in Bihar stands at 70 per cent. 103 people have died.
Personal Secretary of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi and two others at his residence were tested positive for the virus. Dinesh Singh a JD(U) MLC has also contracted the virus.
