As the second wave of COVID-19 deepens its claws on our country, various state governments have taken stringent steps to contain the spread of the virus.
In view of the rising cases in Uttarakhand, state in-charge secretary, Dr Pankaj Kumar Pandey, on Thursday announced that all offices in the state will be closed for three days. These days three are Saturday, Sunday and Monday (April 24, 25 and 26).
Offices of essential services will be expected from this rule, reported news agency ANI.
The Uttarakhand government on Wednesday (April 21) modified the night curfew timings for all 13 districts in the state. The new timings are 7 pm to 5 am. The earlier timings were 9 p to 5 am. The government also ordered the closure of markets in urban areas from 2 pm onwards. Shops dealing in essential commodities are exempted.
“The order of closing shops and business establishments also applies to shopping malls,” said state Chief Secretary Om Prakash.
The state government has also made it mandatory for returnees from Delhi to provide a negative RT-PCR report not older than 72 hours.
As per the revised standard operating procedures (SOPs), it is mandatory for all modes of public transport, including buses and auto rickshaws, besides facilities like cinema halls, restaurants, bars and gyms to run at half their seating capacity.
Meanwhile, Uttarakhand Governor Baby Rani Maurya on Thursday (April 22) called Director of AIIMS, Rishikesh and District Magistrate, Dehradun to take stock of COVID-19 situation. AIIMS director said all ICU beds are occupied in the hospital while the DM of Dehradun said there is no shortage of oxygen in the district.
This development comes on a day when the state has reported 3,998 new COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths on Thursday (April 22), taking the total case tally to 1,38,010.
Source: dnaindia.com