UP government shuts down the schools till April 30

The alarming rise in the number of covid-19 cases has led to this decision

UP government shuts down the schools till April 30

TED NewsDesk, Lucknow: After the highest single-day spike in the number of coronavirus cases, the Uttar Pradesh Government has ordered the closure of all schools till April 30. The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has also ordered a night curfew from 9 pm to 6 am in the districts which register 100 new infections in a day or 500 active cases. 

The restrictions imply on the coaching centres as well as the private schools. The prescheduled examinations can be held with some protocols in place. The instructions also say that the occupancy of any indoor programme should not be more than 50 per cent of the venue. 

The UP government stressed the need to focus on “test, trace and treat” approach. The daily count of RT-PCR tests should be taken to one lakh. Minimum 30-35 persons who have come in contact with a Covid-19 patient should be traced. 

The directions came in the aftermath of a spike in coronavirus cases in Kanpur, Gorakhpur, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Allahabad, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Bareilly, Muzaffarnagar districts and the Lucknow civic body area.

On April 02, the UP government had imposed a complete shutdown of the schools for students of classes 1st to 8th till April 11. On Sunday, the state reported the highest single-day spike of 15,353 cases. 67 deaths have been reported due to covid-19. The death toll has reached 9,152 in the state, which has reported 6,92,015 cases since the outbreak of the pandemic. 

A statement by the UP government gave the numbers. Lucknow reported a maximum of 4,444 cases, followed by 1,740 in Varanasi, 1,565 in Allahabad and 881 in Kanpur.

Meanwhile, the UP chief minister said an effective COVID-19 vaccination drive should be carried out as a four-day “Tika Utsav” that began in the state on Sunday.