The Uttar Pradesh government has sealed hotspots in 15 districts in the state, including those in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad, on the border of Delhi, to curb the spread of coronavirus.
The government on Wednesday decided to seal the hotspots in 15 districts including Agra, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Kanpur Nagar, Varanasi, Shamli, Meerut, Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Basti, Saharanpur, Maharajganj, and Sitapur,” the state’s additional chief secretary, Avnish Awasthi, told news agency ANI on Wednesday.
“There are 343 cases in Uttar Pradesh. Of these, there are more than six cases in these districts,” Awasthi added.
The government will come out with a detailed plan by late Wednesday, he said.
The lockdown would mean that people in these hotspots will not be allowed to leave their houses and groceries or other essential supplies will be home delivered, state chief secretary R.K. Tiwari told television channels.
The sealing of these hotspots comes as the state and the rest of the country has seen a steady rise in cases of covid-19. India has reported more than 5,000 covid-19 cases, with nearly 150 people dying. Three people have died In Uttar Pradesh itself.
There are 61 cases in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 49 in Agra, 25 in Meerut, 23 in Ghaziabad, 21 in Lucknow, 16 in Kanpur Nagar, 14 in Shamli, 13 in Saharanpur, and 6-8 in Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Basti, Saharanpur, Maharajganj and Sitapur, according to data available on covid19india.org portal.
The government has not decided when the sealing would be lifted and this would all depend on when the number of cases in the state comes down, said an official in the state administration.
