UP ‘hotspots’ of Coronavirus sealed

The Uttar Pradesh government on April 8^th decided to seal 15 districts, all considered to be the hotspots for Coronavirus, effective today midnight. he districts to be sealed are Lucknow, Noida, Ghaziabad, Sitapur, Kanpur, Agra, Ferozabad, Bareilly, Meerut, Shamli, Saharanpur, Bulandshahr, Varanasi, Maharajganj and Basti.

The move is aimed to prevent community spread, as the numbers of positive coronavirus cases reported from these districts are high.

“Districts which have 6 or more cases are Agra, Lucknow, Ghaziabad, Gautam Budh Nagar, Kanpur Nagar, Varanasi, Shamli, Meerut, Bareilly, Bulandshahr, Basti, Saharanpur, Maharajganj & Sitapur. Lockdown will be observed in the hotspots in these districts,” Additional Chief Secretary, (Home), Awanish K Awasthi said.

During this lockdown, only home delivery of essential items will be allowed. The movement for delivery of such items and the movement of medical teams will be allowed in these districts.

However, medical shops and petrol pumps will remain closed.

Any bank would not issue notice to any farmers for non-payment of loans till May 31.

PM hints at lockdown extension

Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested today that the lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus will be extended and restrictions will not be lifted in one go after April 14, amid a spurt in COVID-19 infections in the country.

At the all-party meeting via video conferencing, Modi told the opposition leaders and leaders of states that it is a long drawn fight.

Since the number of coronavirus cases continue to surge and deaths continue to mount, several state governments and experts pushed for an extension of the lockdown.

PM Modi also said that he will be speaking to the chief ministers of the state to take a final call on the lockdown. He told the opposition leaders will speak to your CMs.