The Uttar Pradesh government has been forced to wake up to the reality of a dangerous rise in the COVID-19 pandemic in the state after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath himself tested positive for the deadly virus. Faced with the alarming rise, the state government has now extended the hours for the night curfew imposed in several cities in the state.
The state administration had imposed a night curfew in several cities including Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Varanasi, Noida, Meerut and Ghaziabad even when Adityanath frequently travelled to Bengal to attend large election rallies. The curfew in these cities would now start at 8 PM and end at 7 AM. According to the earlier order, the curfew started at 10 PM in the night and ended at 5 AM in the morning.
The Uttar Pradesh government has been forced to take a series of steps after the state witnessed a dangerously worrying trend in the coronavirus pandemic. A video of innumerable pyres from the state capital Lucknow went viral on Wednesday capturing the worsening situation of the pandemic. However, the state government soon ordered the barricading of the crematoriums in Lucknow to ensure that the embarrassment is not repeated in the future.
Visuals of cremation ground at Bhaisakund near Gomti river bank in #Lucknow #COVIDSecondWave #COVID19India pic.twitter.com/P3T5oVSWsk
— Arvind Chauhan (@arvindcTOI) April 14, 2021
Adityanath had recently stunned everyone by urging people to not get swayed by their faith but focus on humanity. Hours later, he had announced how he too tested positive for coronavirus.
Hi @AdminLKO @AjayDwivediIAS , please explain why these tin sheets are being erected outside the boundaries of the lucknow crematorium where videos of burning pyres of covid victims have gone viral ? What purpose does this serve ? …. pic.twitter.com/V5lFPL2qFp
— Alok Pandey (@alok_pandey) April 15, 2021
The state reported 20,510 fresh Covid cases on Wednesday evening, its highest single-day numbers since the pandemic began.