No weekend lockdown in Haryana, confirms CM Manohar Lal Khattar

The state has closed schools, colleges and issued fresh directives to stop any gathering of people but there has been no order for a weekend lockdown.

The Haryana government has not announced any weekend lockdown in the state, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Friday night, putting rumours doing rounds on social media to rest. Action will be taken against perpetrators, the CMO Twitter handle said.

Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday clarified that he has not ordered for any weekend lockdown in the state.

"A fake message about the imposition of lockdown during the weekend in Haryana has been circulated in some social media posts. That needs to be ignored fully. The state will take criminal and punitive action against the perpetrators," the message said.

Both Delhi and Uttar Pradesh — its bordering states — will be under lockdown this weekend. While lockdown in Delhi began on 10pm from Friday, Uttar Pradesh has announced a Sunday lockdown.

Haryana's Covid-19 situation is comparatively better than Delhi and Uttar Pradesh, though the number of fresh infections is rising steadily. On Friday, the state reported 6,277 new infections, the highest 24-hour spike in the state. Gurugram, the district neighbouring Delhi, is the worst hit in the state. In the last 24 hours, Gurugram recorded 1,919 fresh infections, followed by Faridabad (980), Karnal (449), Sonipat (418), Panchkula (314), Hisar (288), Ambala (269), Kurukshetra (243) and Sirsa (202).

The state has already announced the closure of schools, colleges and coaching institutions in the state till April 30. Deputy commissioners have been asked to impose Section 144 of CrPC or night curfew whenever required. The government has also issued some directives capping the gathering of people, but no weekend lockdown has been announced, the government has clarified.