Night curfew extended in Noida till April 30 amid COVID-19 surge

In light of the recent increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, the Gautam Budh Nagar administration on Monday (April 19) has decided to extend the night curfew, which was earlier imposed till April 17 in the entire district including Noida.

The curfew will be in effect from 8 pm to 7 am in the morning every day till April 30. The move will be implemented with immediate effect.

Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate Suhas L Y said in an order, "The curfew which was earlier imposed till April 17 will be in force from 8 pm to 7 am till April 30 across the district, including Noida and Greater Noida."

According to the order, the restrictions imposed in the past during the night curfew will remain in force.

Travellers going to the airport, railway station and bus stand will be allowed movement during night curfew on showing valid travel tickets, according to the order.

The movement of essential goods or commodities and medical and other essential services shall be exempted besides central and state government officials and medical staff.

Pregnant women and those in need of medical help are also exempted, according to the order.

Print and electronic media personnel are also exempted.

The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday had announced a lockdown across the state on all Sundays till May 15.

Earlier today, the Allahabad High Court had directed the Uttar Pradesh government to impose a week-long lockdown in Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur Nagar, Varanasi and Gorakhpur. Reacting to the order, the UP government, however, said there will be no "complete lockdown" in the cities for now.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar on Monday recorded three more fatalities linked to COVID-19 pushing the death toll to 106 while it added 425 new cases of the coronavirus that took its infection tally to 30,955, official data showed.

The district's recovery rate has dropped below 90 per cent-mark after several months, while the active caseload reached 3,386, according to the figures released by the UP Health Department for a 24-hour period.