Andhra relaxes COVID-19 night curfew hours as cases decline
The Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday extended the COVID-19 curfew till October 31, but limited it to only five hours from 12 midnight. Accordingly, the curfew will now be in force from 12 midnight to 5 am only. So far, the curfew hours were 11 pm to 6 am. The government has also eased restrictions on public gatherings, including marriages, permitting a maximum of 250 persons. Previously, only 100 persons were permitted in such gatherings. Cinema halls too, can now run at full capacity as the government has dispensed with the alternate seating arrangements, according to an order issued by Principal Secretary (Health) Anil Kumar Singhal.
The orders released by the Principal Secretary maintained that Section 188 of the Disaster Management Act 2005, Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and other provisions will be attracted if the norms are violated. Though there has been a decline in coronavirus cases in the state, the warning of a third wave of pandemic is raising concerns . Following COVID-19 appropriate behavior is still mandatory, he said in the order.
The government eased the restrictions following reduction in the number of COVID-19 cases in recent days. Andhra Pradesh reported 517 fresh COVID-19 cases, 826 recoveries and eight deaths in the latest 24-hour period ending at 9 am on Wednesday. Earlier, the state government had extended the night curfew in view of the situation.
The latest bulletin said the number of active coronavirus cases in the state has declined to 6,615. The cumulative positives so far registered were 20,58,582, recoveries were 20,37,691 while the death toll is at 14,276. In the latest 24-hour period, Chittoor district reported 97 fresh cases, followed by East Godavari at 88, Guntur at 84 and Krishna at 71. The remaining nine districts added less than 40 new cases each. Krishna, SPS Nellore and Prakasam districts reported two more COVID-19 deaths each and Chittoor and East Godavari reported one each.
With PTI inputs