Uttar Pradesh: No weekend lockdown on Sundays anymore, markets to open as usual
- Earlier last week, Uttar Pradesh had done away with the closure of markets on Saturdays
- The number of active cases in the state has come down to 408
The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to lift the weekend lockdown on Sundays, allowing the opening of shops and other establishments.
State Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday directed the officials to consider lifting the weekly closure of markets on Sundays and implement the previous system of closure.
"In view of the improving situation of Covid-19 in the state, doing away with the system of statewide weekly closure on Sundays can be considered. Now on in all cities/markets/industries/factories, the closure should be implemented as it was earlier before the spread of coronavirus," a government statement read.
It further claimed that in 15 districts of the state -- Aligarh, Amethi, Budaun, Basti, Deoria, Farrukhabad, Hamirpur, Hardoi, Hathras, Kasganj, Mahoba, Mirzapur, Sant Kabirnagar, Shravasti and Shamli -- there is not even a single Covid patient.
Earlier last week, the state had done away with the closure of markets on Saturdays.
In July, the state government had issued guidelines, according to which markets, shops and business establishments were allowed to function from 6 am to 10 pm from Monday to Friday. The shops were ordered to close down on Saturdays and Sundays.
Covid situation in state
The total number of Covid-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh increased to 17,09,050 on Thursday as 29 more people tested positive for the virus. Further, the death toll climbed up to 22,789 with two more fatalities, as per a health bulletin.
The latest deaths were reported from Banda and Bulandshahr, it said.
The total number of recoveries in the state reached 16,85,854. The number of active cases in Uttar Pradesh stands at 407.
So far, over 6.99 crore samples have been tested in the state. These include 2.36 lakh samples tested the previous day.