The restrictions will remain in place indefinitely from 11 pm to 5 am as daily Covid-19 cases in the state almost doubled overnight to 49 on Friday.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that the number of persons in social events and marriages should also be limited to a maximum of 200 for closed spaces and 50% of the capacity of open spaces.
A government spokesperson said: “Several states are witnessing an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and hence the need was felt to take some stringent measures. The policy of ‘no mask, no service’ will be implemented in the markets. Vendors and traders will be asked not to sell to anyone who is not wearing a mask. Masks are also mandatory in the streets and markets. Police have been asked to regularly monitor the situation and public address system will be used to make people aware.
The CM has also said that every single person who comes to UP will have to be tested, especially in the light of the more infectious variant Omicron. In light of the third wave, monitoring committees are being reactivated in both urban and rural areas to help monitor the spread of the infection. Industrial units have been asked to set up COVID helpdesks and day care centres.
Asked whether Friday’s order would have any impact on political rallies as well, a government official said “there were no specific orders for political rallies yet” although people would be “encouraged” to wear masks.
In the last 24 hours, the state conducted 1,91,428 tests and 49 new cases were reported. In the same period, 12 people have recovered from the disease. UP currently has 266 active COVID-19 cases and 37 districts do not have a single active case. While cases of the new omicron version of Kovid-19 have been reported from several states, UP has so far reported only two cases, both of whom have recovered and returned to their home state Maharashtra, an official said.
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