Andhra lifts night curfew, face masks remain mandatory in public

New Delhi, Feb 15: Andhra government has lifted the night curfew in the state as the Covid-19 cases in the country is on the decline.

In a statement, the state government said, it has lifted the night curfew while making it mandatory for the citizens to wear masks in public.

"Wearing of mask by all individuals in public places is mandatory and non-compliance shall attract a penalty of Rs 100. Mask should cover nose and mouth at all times," the statement said.

The government order has also asked the business establishments to ensure that people in their premises compulsorily wear masks failing which the shops will be imposed fines. "They shall maintain wearing of masks in their premises and allowing any person without a mask into its premises shall attract a penalty of Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000 depending upon the gravity of the offence," the GO said.

The government has also stated that gross violation might lead to the shutting down of shops. "If any gross violation occurs in the following Covid protocol in any market/commercial establishment, such market/establishment shall be closed for one or two days depending on the seriousness of the violation in order to promote compliance with the Covid appropriate behaviour," it added.

The state reported only 434 new cases from 15,193 tests on Monday.

On the COVID-19 situation, the officials stated that the pandemic is gradually decreasing, where 794 patients are getting treated in hospitals while the number of positive cases in the state have come down to 18,929, registering only 0.82 per cent of COVID-19 active cases.

The positivity rate has also fallen to 3.29 per cent from 17.07 per cent and there were zero cases in almost 9,581 village/wards secretariats.

On the vaccination front, the officials said that 3,90,83,148 people have been administered two doses of vaccination, and 39,04,927 were given a single dose. While the target for the precautionary dose is 15,02,841 and so far 11,84,608 people have been vaccinated. The officials informed that 96.7 per cent of vaccination was completed in the above 45 year age group and similarly 90.07 per cent vaccination was done in people between 18-44 age group. For teens between 15-18 years, 24.41 lakh have been administered with a single dose of vaccine, while 12.48 lakh have received their second dose of vaccine.

With inputs from agencies