Uttar Pradesh imposes weekend lockdown amid COVID-19 spike

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New Delhi: Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday (April 20) imposed weekend lockdown in the state. 

Other than this the night curfew will continue from 8 PM to 7 AM every day, as earlier, in all areas reporting 500 plus cases. 

“Restraint and patience are our greatest weapons in the midst of this horror of Covid-19. Weekly ban (corona curfew) will be effective in the state every Saturday and Sunday. In addition, in districts where there are more than 500 active cases, the remaining activities will be restricted every day from 08.00 p.m. to 07.00 a.m. the next day except the necessary services. This rule should be implemented with immediate effect,” read the order issued by the government on Tuesday.

"Only essential services will be allowed. Night curfew will remain imposed in all districts," said Awanish K Awasthi, Additional Chief Secretary.

The order also directed the authorities to make sure there is police protection at all oxygen plants and GPS monitoring of vehicles with oxygen. 

“All possible stringent action should be taken to check black marketing and profiteering of oxygen and other life saving drugs,” the government officials added.

In a significant development, the Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed for two weeks the Allahabad High Court order directing weeklong lockdown in 5 major COVID-19 affected cities - Allahabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi and Gorakhpur - of Uttar Pradesh.

The top court passed the order in response to the Uttar Pradesh government's plea challenging the Allahabad High Court`s order to impose lockdown in its five worst-COVID-19 affected cities.

Meanwhile, India registered 2,59,170 new COVID-19 cases and 1,761 deaths in the last 24 hours, the data by the Union Health Ministry showed on Tuesday (April 20, 2021) morning.