Lockdown curbs may be eased further

Night curfew likely to continue

As the deadline for expiry of the ongoing restrictions on movement of people and operation of shops and establishments is approaching fast, all eyes are on whether the government will prefer extending the restrictions to completely rein in the COVID-19 pandemic or ease the restrictions further. The State government had opted for lockdown from May 12 to 30 allowing activities between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. The relaxations were eased subsequently allowing activities till 1 p.m. till June 9 and till 5 p.m. till June 19 with a grace period of one hour, facilitating people reaching their destinations. Steps were taken to implement the lockdown restrictions strictly between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. with movement of only essential services allowed during the restricted hours. Lockdown restrictions from 6 p.m. to 10 a.m. are still continuing in some constituencies including Nalgonda, Nagarjunasagar, Sattupalli, Munugode, Devarakonda and Madhira, where the number of cases was still on the higher side. The number of active cases in the State came down to below 20,000 and case fatality rate and recovery rate are pegged at 0.57% and 96.21% respectively, much better than the national average (1.3% and 95.89%) according to the latest information released by the Health department.