No Sunday curfew in Noida, Ghaziabad as active COVID-19 cases drop

Representational Image (Credits: PTI)

New Delhi: The Yogi Adityanath government on Friday (August 20, 2021) announced that the weekly curfew on Sundays is being completely lifted in the the wake of drop in COVID-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh.

“In the wake of drop in COVID-19 cases in the state, the weekend curfew on Sunday will not be imposed anymore. The markets will open normally like weekdays,” ANI tweeted.

In the wake of drop in #COVID19 cases in the state, the weekend curfew on Sunday will not be imposed anymore. The markets will open normally like weekdays. — ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) August 20, 2021

According to the reports, the decision was taken in view of the declining cases of COVID-19 in the state.

Additionally, a number of women organisations had urged the UP Chief Minister to lift the Sunday curfew in view of the Raksha Bandhan on August 22. Even cinema hall owners had requested the state government to end the weekly closure since it was affecting the business.

The government spokesman said that markets will now observe their earlier weekly closure on designated days.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh has become the first state in India to carry out more than seven crore COVID-19 tests. A government spokesperson said that, "The testing protocol by the World Health Organisation for Uttar Pradesh is 32,000 tests per day, whereas Covid testing in the state has averaged 2.5 lakh tests a day for the past few weeks."

The state reported 29 new COVID-19 cases and 35 recoveries on Thursday, bringing the total number of active cases in the state down to 407. Cases were reported from just 16 districts, with Lucknow reporting the highest number of new cases at five. Banda and Bulandshahr also reported one death each.

(With Agency inputs)