Will night curfew be imposed in Vizag too? Here’s what officials have to say

In wake of the increasing COVID-19 cases in India, many cities and states across the country have begun to observe curfew during the night. Taking the local situation under consideration, Vizag too is experiencing an exponential surge in registered COVID-19 positive cases.

During our conversation with health officials of the district, regarding the implementation of a curfew in Vizag, it was learned that, as of now, Vizag will not be put under any sort of night curfew. We were also informed that the Visakhapatnam District Administration, and the Andhra Pradesh State Government, are both focusing on the vaccination drive and effective voluntary containment of the virus.

In an earlier conversation with Yo!, the Andhra Medical College (AMC) Principal, Dr PV Sudhakar, who is also the Visakhapatnam District COVID Special Officer, stated that the district administration had decided against the imposition of a lockdown in Vizag, including a night curfew. He went on to add that contact tracing, and isolation, are the key factors to contain the virus. Further, he mentioned that they have scaled up the testing strategy in the district.

The nation currently is witnessing an alarming rate of increase in COVID positive cases. Breaking its own records, India has recorded a massive surge of 1,45,384 COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the country’s active case count has crossed the 1-million mark, in terms of which makes India the 4th-worst-hit country. Locally, Andhra Pradesh has close to 18,000 active cases.

To curb this trend of resurgence, many states, across the country, have imposed night curfew. These include Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Puducherry and Punjab. Madhya Pradesh imposed a 60-hour lockdown from 6:00 PM on 9 April to 6 AM on 12 April 2021. States like Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha and Jammu & Kashmir have selected cities under night curfew.