The ongoing curfew in Vizag has been extended till 7 July and the relaxation timings have been extended till 9 pm. This decision by the AP State Government comes after a few districts recorded a positivity rate of less than 5%. Eight such districts have been identified and instead of 6 am – 6 pm, curfew will now be relaxed from 6 am – 9 pm which applies to only these eight districts from 1 July to 7 July.
In Vizag, shops and restaurants have been informed to run their business till 9 pm and close immediately by 10 pm. The city will have its night curfew from 9 pm to 6 am. It may be recalled that the curfew in Vizag was announced first on 2 May and as things got uncontrollable, the only option was for the curfew to be extended. From reporting 2,000 positive cases in a day two months back, the district has now been reporting as low as 170 cases for the past few days. Currently, the positivity rate is being reported below 5 percent in the city which is a major reason for the extension of relaxation timings. Fortunately, there have been no deaths reported in the last few weeks.
With incremental improvements, in response to Covid care, the majority of the Covid treating hospitals in the city have been denotified and only a few hospitals have been treating 4-5 patients. On Monday, Vizag reported 183 positive cases. Currently, the city hospitals and district officials are working on preparing for the third wave pandemic which is likely to have an impact on children. In such preparations, all the hospitals in Vizag are arranging sufficient beds, oxygen, and ventilator equipment.
On the curfew situation in the city, Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner Manish Kumar Sinha IPS said that a significant drop in the cases is only possible due to the support and cooperation of the citizens in respecting the Covid norms. In the meanwhile, the city police have been strict on the few who have violated the curfew norms. From March 28 till date, a total of 87,000 cases have been booked on citizens violating Covid norms. During the nighttime, two shifts of police teams from Law and Order, Traffic, and Crime departments are patrolling. Few teams are patrolling from 6 pm -12 am, another few teams from 12 am to 6 am. The Commissioner observed that the crime rate has reduced, however, with about 50 prisoners released during Covid, an eye has been put on them to avoid further crimes in the district.
Along with the Vizag district, curfew relaxation timings have been extended for 3 more hours in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Guntur, Nellore, Kadapa, Anantapur, and Kurnool districts.
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