Telangana lifts lockdown completely as cases fall

Hyderabad, June 19: Telangana government on Saturday decided to lift the coronavirus-induced lockdown in the state "completely" after a steady decline in daily COVID-19 cases.

The decision was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao keeping in view of significant drop in the COVID-19 positivity rate. The Cabinet also directed the officials of all the departments to completely end all the regulations imposed during the lockdown.

"The state cabinet has decided to lift the lockdown completely. The decision has been taken to lift the lockdown by examining the reports given by medical authorities that the number of corona cases, positivity percentage has decreased significantly, corona have come into full control," the Chief Minister's Office posted on Facebook.

In addition to lifting of lockdown, Telangana cabinet has also decided to open all categories of educational institutions from July 1.

UG/PG final year exams are expected to be held from first week of July by various state universities.

The current phase of lockdown comes to an end on Saturday. Presently, relaxation in lockdown rules is being given from 6 AM to 5 PM with a grace period of one hour (up to 6 PM) for people to reach home. On June 8, the Cabinet had decided to extend the lockdown for 10 days.

Telangana on Friday reported 1,417 new Covid-19 cases and 12 fatalities. The overall Covid-19 tally of the state is 6,10,834, while the state's total toll is 3,546 - till Friday.