Curfew to stay in Noida, Ghaziabad for now

Even as the Uttar Pradesh government ordered the lifting of the partial corona curfew across the state, it said that it will continue in 20 districts, including Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar

Even as the Uttar Pradesh government ordered the lifting of the partial corona curfew across the state, it said that it will continue in 20 districts, including Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar. The curfew will be lifted if active Covid-19 cases fell below 600, it added.

HT Image

The other districts that will continue to be under the partial curfew are Lucknow, Meerut, Varanasi, Ghaziabad, GB Nagar, Bulandshahr, Baghpat and Moradabad, among others. The curfew had been imposed since April 30.

“In these 20 districts there will be no relaxation as of now. If the number of daily active cases falls below 600 on the basis of report by district health department, then relaxations mentioned in the order will automatically apply. In case any district has relaxed, but the number of active cases move more than 600, then the relaxations will cease to exist for it,” the order issued by UP chief secretary on Sunday, read.

Under the relaxations, shops/markets can open from 7am to 7pm outside the containment zones but will have to close on Saturdays and Sundays to sanitise their areas; restaurants can only home deliver food; religious places will open up but can allow only a maximum of five people at a time, while banks, insurance companies, among others, have also been allowed to open up while maintaining all precautions.

According to state control room figures of May 30, Ghaziabad had 1,760 active cases while GB Nagar had 1,184 active cases.

An officer from the Ghaziabad health department estimates that it will take another 15-20 days for the active cases to fall below 600. “During the past one month we had been having more than 1,000 daily cases and now these have declined to about 50-150. This may increase or decrease on some days,” said the officer who wished not to be identified.

Ghaziabad district magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey said, “We will meet with traders, bus operators, auto unions beside RWAs and will seek their active participation to ensure that protocols are adhered to. If the cases rise, everyone will get affected as partial curfew will come into effect. So, we have now directed for strict surveillance, regular monitoring of patients in hospitals so that they recover fast and even strict adherence to containment protocols.”

GB Nagar did not make any estimates and said it would depend on recoveries.

“It is generally seen that patients in home isolation (mild cases) recover within 10 days while there are other patients (moderate and severe cases) who take longer recover. So, it depends on recoveries,” said Suhas LY, district magistrate of GB Nagar.

Experts said that bringing down the number of active cases will be a major challenge.

“People have to ensure social distancing and wearing of masks besides maintaining personal hygiene. Enforcement against offenders must continue strictly otherwise there is every possibility that cases may rise. Further, testing should also be maintained at the same level and tracing should be expedited,” said Dr VB Jindal, former president of Indian Medical Association (Ghaziabad).