New COVID-19 guidelines in UP as cases spike

New Delhi, Apr 12: The Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday ordered the closure of all schools till April 30, on a day the state reported its highest single-day spike of coronavirus cases since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. According to a government statement, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also ordered the imposition of a night curfew from 9 pm to 6 am in the districts which report 100 new infections in a day or have 500 active cases.

The coaching centres will also remain closed during the period. All government and private schools will remain closed till April 30 while pre-scheduled examinations can be held, the statement said.

The government has directed that occupancy at any indoor programme should not be more than 50 per cent of the capacity of the venue or a maximum of 50 people.

The government said no more than 100 people be allowed to assemble at an open space for any event.

The authorities have also prohibited the distribution of "prasad" at religious places while the retail shops will open from 7 am to 7 pm in the state.

Stressing the need to focus on the "test, trace and treat" approach, the government said the daily count of RT-PCR tests should be taken to one lakh.

Tracing of at least 30-35 persons who have come in contact with a COVID-19 patient should be done, the orders said.

The fresh directions came in the aftermath of a spike in coronavirus cases with the authorities imposing a night curfew in Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Allahabad, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, Muzaffarnagar districts and the Lucknow civic body area.

Earlier on April 2, the UP government had extended till April 11 the closure of all schools for students of Classes 1 to 8. On Sunday, the state reported its highest single-day spike of 15,353 cases now.

With 67 fresh deaths, the death toll too has reached 9,152 in the state, which has reported 6,92,015 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic. Lucknow reported the maximum 4,444 cases, followed by 1,740 in Varanasi, 1,565 in Allahabad and 881 in Kanpur, the UP government said in another statement.

Of the fresh deaths, state capital Lucknow reported the highest 31, followed by nine in Allahabad, eight in Kanpur, two each in Gorakhpur, Muzaffarnagar and Chandauli and one each in Varanasi, Moradabad, Saharanpur, Ballia, Ayodhya, Lakhimpur-Khiri, Jaunpur, Deoria, Rae Bareli, Ghazipur, Rampur, Basti and Kannauj.

The count of active COVID-19 cases in the state stands at 71,241, the statement said. So far, 6,11,622 COVID-19 patients in the state have recovered from the disease. Meanwhile, the UP chief minister said an effective COVID-19 vaccination drive should be carried out as a four-day "Tika Utsav" that began in the state on Sunday.

The four-day vaccination programme, which began on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Jyotibha Phule, will continue till April 14, the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar.