Amid COVID-19 surge, historical monuments, museums in India closed till May 15

All centrally protected monuments, sites, and museums under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will be closed till May 15 or until further orders in light of the ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Due to the prevailing COVID-19 situation, it has been decided to close all the Centrally Protect monuments/sites and museums under the Archaeological Survey of India with immediate effect and till May 15, 2021, or until further orders," the order read.

Minister of State for Culture and Tourism Prahlad Singh Patel also tweeted the order, saying, "Given the current outbreak of the corona epidemic, @MinOfCultureGoI (Ministry of Culture), @ASIGoI (Archaeological Survey of India) has decided to close all the monuments protected by it till the 15th of May."

Similar measures were taken in March last year when the pandemic broke out. In December 2020, the ASI removed the cap on the number of visitors to its protected monuments as cases started to reduce.

India on Wednesday achieved a grim milestone by recording over two lakh cases. With 2,00,739 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the country's total number of cases now stands at 1,40,74,564, including 14,71,877 active cases.

The country's total number of cases now stands at 1,40,74,564, including 14,71,877 active cases. India also reported 1,038 fresh COVID-related fatalities in the last 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 1,73,123, as per data from the Union Health ministry.

India is currently the second worst-hit country in the world in terms of COVID-19 cases, with the United States being the worst affected. With 2,00,739 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, the country's total number of cases now stands at 1,40,74,564, including 14,71,877 active cases. 

(With ANI inputs)