HC orders Lockdown in Lucknow, 4 other cities till April 26 amid Covid surge; Details here

Amid a massive surge in novel coronvuirus cases across the state, the Allahabad High Court directed Uttar Pradesh government on Monday to impose lockdown in five major cities of the state including Lucknow, Kanpur till 26 April.

The lockdown will be imposed in Prayagraj, Lucknow, Varanasi, Kanpur Nagar, and Gorakhpur. However, essential services will be allowed.

District Magistrate and CMO Prayagraj/Lucknow to ensure arrangement of COVID-19 medicine, oxygen facilities in adequate numbers at respective COVID-19 hospitals, ruled Allahabad High Court.

Allahabad HC orders Lockdown in UP:

The high court in its order said financial institutions, medical and health services, industrial and scientific establishments, essential services including municipal functions and public transport will remain exempted in these cities.

All grocery and other commercial shops and establishments with more than three workers will remain shut till April 26. However, medical shops will continue to operate during this period, the HC order said. It also added that all hotels and restaurants will be closed too.

Religious activities and marriages will remain suspended. However, in case of marriage already fixed, permission will be required from the District Magistrate of the concerned district. Gatherings in such marriages will be restricted to 25.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday directed officials to check black marketing of remdesivir and other COVID-19 medicines, and invoke the stringent National Security Act (NSA) against those found guilty.

During a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation in the state, Adityanath said one lakh more vials of remdesivir have been ordered and over 30,000 will be brought to the state in the next two to three days.

Restrictions:

The state is already witnessing a lockdown across the state on all Sundays till May 15. All districts of Uttar Pradesh are under lockdown from 8 pm on last Saturday, which will continue till 7 am, coming Monday. No services apart from essential ones will be allowed in the state.

All markets, commercial institutions, offices etc will remain closed on Sundays till May 15 for proper implementation of this campaign.

A fine of ₹1,000 will be imposed if someone is caught without a mask for the first time. If caught for the second time, ₹10,000 fine amount will be imposed.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh registered the highest single-day rise in COVID-19 cases as well as fatality count, with the disease claiming 129 more lives, while 30,596 fresh cases pushed its tally to 8,51,620.

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