Shop timings in Pune rural areas extended till 10 pm

Pune: After the urban parts, Covid relaxations have been announced in rural areas of Pune district

Pune: After the urban parts, Covid relaxations have been announced in rural areas of Pune district. Rajesh Deshmukh, Pune district collector, issued an order on Sunday stating that the relaxations, of shop timings extended till 10 pm, announced by the state government on August 11 would be applicable to rural parts, including gram panchayats and municipal councils.

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It is the first set of official relaxations in rural parts from Covid-induced curbs during the second wave. As the positivity rate in rural areas was higher than Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), curbs were not eased in rural areas.

“The relaxation guidelines by the state government are applicable to rural areas from August 16. This order will be in effect until further orders,” stated Deshmukh. Since last few weeks, rural parts recorded a declining trend in positivity rate.

During the week August 9 to August 14, it recorded the lowest positivity rate during the second wave at 3.95%. For the same duration, PMC recorded positivity rate at 2.5% and PCMC recorded 3.5%.