Mumbai: Several states in the country has announced fresh restrictions in the context of rising Covid-19 cases. India reported 159,632 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to spread rapidly in the country.
Uttar Pradesh is the latest to announce a night curfew and the state has decided to close physical classes in all educational institutions after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired the COVID-19 review meeting in Lucknow on Sunday.
Maharashtra said on Saturday it would close swimming pools and gyms from Monday while schools and colleges have been closed till Feb 15 after daily cases in the state jumped to over 41,000.
The state government has said only fully vaccinated people will be allowed into private offices while limiting the capacity to 50% of the total workforce.
In the neighbouring state of Gujarat, authorities have extended night curfew hours and cancelled leave for all healthcare personnel.
The Karnataka government has imposed a curfew on weekends and restricted public gatherings to fight the third wave of COVID-19, till January 19. It has also imposed a night curfew and has prohibited all rallies, dharnas, protests, among others.
Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said there is no plan to impose a lockdown as of now in the city. The CM said that a meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) will be convened on Monday to further review the situation and discuss efforts to be taken.
The national capital has been seeing an uptick of daily cases in the last few days, mainly triggered by the Omicron variant of the infection.
However, the DDMA has already imposed a weekend curfew in the city.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a meeting to review the COVID-19 situation later on Sunday, according to government sources.
The health ministry reported 327 new deaths, taking the official death toll since the start of the pandemic to 483,790. Total infections stand at 35.52 million.
