E-Paper
Covid-19: Jharkhand govt announces lockdown from April 22 to 29
Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren apprised the people of the state about the lockdown and appealed to people to follow the rules of the lockdown and observe the period as 'Swasthya suraksha saptah' (health protection week).
The Jharkhand government on Tuesday announced that a statewide lockdown will be imposed from 6pm on April 22 to 6am on April 29 with the aim to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The government added that essential services will be allowed during the period of the lockdown and mining, agricultural as well as construction activities will be permitted. Although, religious places will remain open during the period but the gathering of devotees will not be allowed. All offices apart from those of the central and state government, will remain closed during the lockdown period. Gatherings involving more than five people have also been barred throughout the state.
Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren apprised the people of the state about the lockdown and appealed to people to follow the lockdown rules and observe the period as 'Swasthya suraksha saptah' (health protection week).
“We have to fight the coronavirus together and this is why the government has taken this decision,” CM Soren said in a video.
In the last 24 hours, Jharkhand reported 3,992 fresh Covid-19 cases which took the state’s tally to 162,945 cases. The state’s death toll rose to 1,456 after 50 more people succumbed to the disease, the health department said in a bulletin on Tuesday. The total number of active cases in the state stands at 28,010 while the total number of recovered people is 133,479. The new positive cases included 1,073 from Ranchi and 676 from East Singhbhum district. Of the fresh fatalities, 17 were reported from East Singhbhum district and 11 from state capital Ranchi, the bulletin said. The remaining deaths were registered in several other districts. 43,691 samples were tested for Covid-19 in the state in the last 24 hours, the health bulletin said.
Jharkhand’s neighboring states Bihar, Odisha and Chhattisgarh have also announced restrictions like night curfew and limited period lockdown amid a spike in Covid-19 cases. However, West Bengal has not taken any such step.
