Large gatherings banned in UP’s Gautam Buddha Nagar near Delhi over Covid

Large gatherings have been banned in Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Budh Nagar district, which is close to Delhi, to control the spread of coronavirus, with the imposition of section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc). With the fresh curbs, more than four people cannot gather in a public place. The restrictions also come ahead of several festivals this week, including the Islamic festival of Eid and the Hindu festival of Akshaya Tritya. The distsrict is a part of the NCR region and includes Noida, Dadri and Jewar.

“No one should be allowed to conduct any protests or hunger strike without the permission of the higher authorities,” said the police commissionerate of Gautam Budh Nagar in a statement, announcing the guidelines, according to news agency ANI. The curbs are likely to remain in place till the end of this month.

All schools have also been asked to continue to follow the social distancing norms as well as the face mask rule.

The guidelines also restrict the use of loudspeakers on the premises and nearby areas of the exam centres. Under this rule, shopkeepers have also been prohibited from selling and renting loudspeakers or similar equipment to anyone without permission from the higher authorities, according to an ANI report.

Over the last few weeks, the nationwide Covid tally is seeing a fresh jump. On Sunday, the daily Covid-19 tally saw a rise of 3,324 new cases, according to the daily health bulletin by the health ministry. This was the fourth straight day that the country’s daily Covid cases remained above the 3,000-mark.

The country has an active caseload jumped to 19,092, while the positivity rate is hovering at 0.71 per cent.