Night curfew in Andhra Pradesh from 11 pm to 6 am extended till September 4

Visakhapatnam: The Andhra Pradesh state government on Friday said that the Covid-19 night curfew in the state would be in place between 11pm and 6am until September 4, according to an order from the state medical and health department. The government has also warned that action would be taken against people who violate the norms.

The announcement came as the total confirmed cases in Andhra Pradesh crossed the two-million mark on Friday and was recorded at 2,000,038, news agency PTI reported citing health department data. Currently, 15,472 active cases of the disease are present in the state, the report also showed.

Earlier on Thursday, the state had reported 1,501 new Covid-19 cases and ten related deaths in the 24 hours ending 9am, a health bulletin showed.

On August 15, the state government had extended the Covid-19 restrictions in the state until August 21. At least half of the districts in the state were reporting a high number of daily infections, the government had noted.

Anil Kumar Singhal, the principal health secretary of the state had also said that the night curfew between 10pm and 6am was also extended due to the number of people testing positive for the coronavirus disease. The government had announced the extension following a review meeting of the Covid-19 situation in the state.

Currently, the government has capped the number of people allowed at weddings and other religious events at 150, to check the transmission of the infection. Further, prohibitory orders under Section 144 CrPC would be enforced even during the non curfew hours, the health secretary had said earlier. He had also warned that Covid appropriate behaviour must be followed by the people at all gatherings and congregations and said that the violation of the norms would be considered for action under the Disaster Management Act. He had also asked the collectors, commissioners and superintendents of police to ensure that the restrictions were properly followed.