The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday extended the curfew in the state until the end of May. Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday said that the curfew should be more than four weeks long, for the state to witness the results. Earlier on May 5, the Andhra government had announced a curfew from 12 noon to 6 am everyday, till May 18, in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The police and other state authorities are overseeing the closure of all shops, business establishments, offices, restaurants and educational institutions during the curfew period. People are given an exemption from 6 am to 12 noon to carry out their activities. Section 144 has been imposed in the state banning the gathering of crowds. Hospitals, diagnostic labs, pharmacies and those dealing with other essential services have been exempted from the curfew.
Medical and other emergency staff are exempted from the curfew with due production of valid ID cards. People who are availing medical care, pregnant women and people availing COVID-19 vaccination facilities and travelling in private vehicles are also permitted. Chief Minister YS Jagan on Monday said that it was just 10 days since the government announced the curfew and the results will only be witnessed around four weeks after the curfew.
Print and electronic media, telecommunications, internet services, broadcasting services, IT and IT-enabled services, petrol pumps, power generation, transmission and distribution, water supply and sanitation, cold storages and warehousing services, private security services, and all manufacturing industries have exceptions on due adherence to the guidelines. The procurement of agricultural produce will be allowed along with all agricultural activities.
All other movements of people have been prohibited except officials of central and state governments including those of High Court and other courts, Urban Local Bodies and Panchayat Raj Institutions staff on emergency works. These officials will have to carry their valid ID cards while on duty.
The CM directed officials to use the mechanisms of village secretariats, village volunteers and ASHA workers to curb the spread of the virus in the state. The CM told officials that steps should be taken to provide care and rehabilitation to children whose parents succumbed to the virus, while directing them to design a plan of action to provide the children with long term financial assistance with fixed deposits in the accounts of such children.
The state has recorded 14.32 lakh COVID-19 cases so far, of which, 2.10 lakh are active cases. While 12.12 lakh people have been discharged from hospitals after recovery, 9,372 persons have succumbed to the disease so far, as per the official data issued by the state government. Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh has officially reported the most deaths (1,094 persons), followed by Krishna district (864 persons) and East Godavari and Guntur districts (838 persons each).
#COVIDUpdates: 16/05/2021, 10:00 AM
— ArogyaAndhra (@ArogyaAndhra) May 16, 2021
రాష్ట్రం లోని నమోదైన మొత్తం 14,32,596 పాజిటివ్ కేసు లకు గాను
*12,12,788 మంది డిశ్చార్జ్ కాగా
*9,372 మంది మరణించారు
* ప్రస్తుతం చికిత్స పొందుతున్నవారి సంఖ్య 2,10,436#APFightsCorona #COVID19Pandemic pic.twitter.com/AZg4SVrvqj
In the latest 24-hour period, after 94,550 samples were collected, as many as 24,171 samples tested positive for the coronavirus. A total of 21,101 persons were discharged from hospitals. The state officially recorded 101 COVID-19 deaths on May 16.