Coronavirus / Night curfew shortened in Uttarakhand in view of upcoming festivals: CMO

Dehradun: Uttarakhand government on Tuesday announced that it would be shortening the timing for the night curfew imposed in several districts in the view of upcoming festival, news agency ANI reported. The curfew will remain in force between 10:30 pm to 5 am. Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat said, "This is applicable for the areas where night curfew has already been imposed."

Last week, the state government imposed a night curfew in Dehradun municipal limits between 10pm and 5am in the wake of rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in the state.

The state govt's spokesperson on Saturday said, the Cabinet in its meeting today has decided to impose night curfew in Dehradun municipal limits between 10pm and 5am. Following the order, Dehradun District Magistrate Dr Ashish Srivastava, said, "Night curfew will be implemented from tomorrow following the Cabinet order."

Earlier today, the government has ordered officials to ramp up testing in all the districts and ensure 100% testing in containment zones. Directions have also been given regarding adherence to social distancing and Covid-19-appropriate behaviour in crowded places including markets, hotels and restaurants.

Also the government on Tuesday put a restriction on the number of guests allowed at a wedding. In a statement, Uttarakhand chief secretary Om Prakash said that weddings outside containment zones will have a gathering of 200 people, who will have to abide by Covid-19 appropriate behavior.

The decision was taken after a meeting with the officials of the state health department and district magistrates (DM).

Om Prakash said that since Covid-19 cases are increasing all over the country, the state will have to be proactive in preventing the spread of the virus and instructed all the District Magistrates to be thoroughly prepared to cope up with the situation.

Uttarakhand on Monday reported a big spike of 1,334 COVID-19 cases which took the state's cumulative caseload to 11,01,46, according to a bulletin. Seven COVID-19 patients died taking the toll to 1,767 in the state, the bulletin issued by the COVID-control room said.

Dehradun, Haridwar, Nainital, Udham Singh Nagar, Pauri and Tehri districts accounted for the maximum new cases, it said.

Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday said, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Kerala, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal are among the states displaying an upward trajectory in daily new cases.

India's total active caseload has reached 12,64,698 which now comprises 9.24 per cent of the country's total infections. A net increase of 63,689 cases recorded in the total active caseload in a span of 24 hours.