Agra Univ exams begin as Taj set to welcome visitors from Sep 21

Agra, Sep 11 Agra University on Friday conducted its annual examination process with more than 35,000 students registered for the exams.

University officials said the Covid-19 guidelines will be strictly followed and the number of students allowed in each shift staggered to maintain social distancing.

Though the daily number of Covid-19 positive cases is steadily rising, the district administration is keen to bring life back to normal in different sectors.

The local tourism industry is upbeat as the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort will be reopened from September 21.

CISF sources indicated that there would be no physical frisking of the visitors at the entrance gates, but monitoring would be strict through CCTV cameras and scanners with metal detectors.

Initially, only 5,000 guests would be permitted on a daily basis. This will hardly put any pressure on the security apparatus which is used to handling between 25,000 to 50,000 visitors daily in the pre-Covid-19 era.

Agra reported fresh 98 cases in the past 24 hours. The total is now 3,742, with 112 deaths. So far 2,889 have recovered. The number of active cases is 742. The total number of samples tested so far is 1,42,045.

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced a reduction in the Covid test fees, from Rs 2,500 to Rs 1,600. The private laboratories will soon be notified. The health department's task force said the number of beds in the Covid hospitals will be increased and more trained hands put on the job.

( With inputs from IANS )