Andhra Pradesh further relaxes COVID-19 curfew, allows cinema halls, restaurants to reopen

Representational Image (Credits: PTI)

New Delhi: The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday (July 5, 2021) decided to further relax the COVID-induced curfew in the state. The state authorities allowed cinema halls, dine-in Restaurants, gymnasiums and marriage halls to reopen from July 8 with 50 percent capacity following a drastic decline in the infection spread.

Only in the two Godavari districts, East and West, curfew will be relaxed from 6 AM to 7 PM daily as the COVID-19 positivity rate continues to be over five percent.

The state government said that in the remaining 11 districts only night curfew from 10 PM to 6 AM will be in place and businesses could run from 6 AM to 9 PM and in the Godavari districts till 6 PM.

The revised curfew hours will come into force from July 8, a release from the Chief Minister's Office said.

The decision, to further relax the curfew was taken at a high-level review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Monday.

"All establishments should strictly follow the Covid protocols. Covid Appropriate Behaviour like wearing of facial masks, hand sanitisation and physical distancing is a must," the CMO release added.

The authorities added that till July 7, the corona curfew will be in force from 9 PM to 6 AM in eight districts and from 6 PM to 6 AM in the remaining five, including the two Godavari districts.

Meanwhile, The cumulative coronavirus tally in Andhra Pradesh crossed the 19-lakh mark and reached 19,02,923 with the addition of 3,175 fresh cases on Sunday. Over 3,692 patients had recovered from the infection and 29 more succumbed in the state. The active cases came down to 35,325 after a total of 18,54,754 recoveries and 12,844 deaths.

(With PTI inputs)