The Haryana government on Sunday relaxed the night curfew in the State, allowing the restaurants, bars and gymnasiums to remain open for an additional hour but extended the COVID-induced lockdown for another week.
Announcing the extension of lockdown till July 26, the State government, in a detailed order, delayed the imposition of night curfew in the State for an hour, now from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. on all days of the week.
With relaxation in the night curfew, the government allowed the restaurants, bars, and club houses to remain open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. with the seating capacity of 50% and adherence to requisite social distancing and other COVID-19 appropriate safety norms.
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The gyms are also allowed to open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. with 50% capacity.
However, despite a sharp decline in positivity rate and the number of new COVID-19 cases, the government decided “to continue the preventive and precautionary measures” to contain the pandemic and extended the lockdown till 5 a.m. on July 26.
The government had last week allowed the cinema halls, swimming pools and spas to open with certain restrictions in a major relaxation.
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The Haryana government had first imposed a week-end lockdown in nine districts — Gurugram, Faridabad, Rohtak, Sonipat, Karnal, Panchkula, Hisar, Sirsa and Fatehabad — from 10 p.m. April 30 to 5 a.m. on May 3. The entire State was then brought under lockdown for a week on May 3 and the restrictions are being extended on a weekly basis thereafter.
Decline in new cases
The number of fresh COVID cases in the State has declined by almost 71% from 146 on June 22 to 41 on July 17, said a press statement issued by the Haryana Public Relations Department.
The State’s recovery rate has also improved by 0.15% from 98.50% on June 22 to 98.65% on July 17.
However, the fatality rate has increased by 0.04% from 1.21% on June 22 to 1.25% on July 17.