Covid-19: Uttar Pradesh extends partial ‘corona curfew’ till May 17

The announcement comes 24 hours before the curfew was scheduled to come to an end. Uttar Pradesh recorded 26,487 new positive cases and 298 related deaths on May 8, according to a health department bulletin.

The Uttar Pradesh government has extended the ongoing partial ‘corona curfew’ in the state till 7am on May 17 amid a rise in the state’s daily cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), additional chief secretary (ACS) Navneet Sehgal announced on Sunday.

The decision, likely taken during a review meeting chaired by chief minister Yogi Adityanath, marks yet another extension of the ‘corona curfew,’ which was initially intended to be a weekend curfew and was to be in effect from 8pm on a Friday to 7am on Monday of the new week. However, on April 29, the government extended the curfew by 24 more hours, till 7am on May 4. It was subsequently extended till May 6 and then till May 10.

The state government said that essential and emergency services will continue "as usual." medical services, medicine shops, vegetable shops, groceries, continuous process industries, e-commerce, and vaccination. These relaxations and curbs were in effect in the earlier phases as well.

In addition to the curfew, a daily night curfew is also in force in all districts with more than 500 active coronavirus cases.

On Saturday, Uttar Pradesh recorded 26,847 new positive cases and 298 related deaths, taking its infection count to 1,480,315, according to a health department bulletin. This includes 1,219,409 recoveries, 245,736 active cases and 15,170 deaths.

The state’s Capital city of Lucknow contributed the highest number of new cases and deaths, at 2,179 and 38, respectively. Meerut, Muzaffarnagar, Saharanpur and Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded 1,653, 1,518, 1,485 and 1,188 fresh infections respectively. Kanpur saw 23 deaths, while 18 people succumbed to the viral disease in Jhansi. In Meerut, 12 people lost their lives while Allahabad, Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghazipur recorded 11 deaths each.