COVID-19: Markets to remain shut for four days in Varanasi

In accordance with the initiative taken by the trade union of Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, the district administration on Thursday announced a four-day long shutdown of markets to curb the spread of the COVID-19 infection in the city.

The trade union had called for the shutdown of markets for two days and the city will go under weekend lockdown on Saturday and Sunday.

So, now the markets will be shut for the first two days and will remain closed along with the entire city as per the weekend lockdown protocol. Essential services will be open till 12 pm during the weekend lockdown.

This comes after the city reported a surge in coronavirus cases.

"During the last few days, the total tally of the infection has been crossing 1,800 and there are around 700 containment zones in the city. So, this step was needed to be taken to deal with coronavirus situation," District Collector, Kaushal Raj Sharma said in a statement.

The state health department bulletin on Wednesday said that Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest single-day rise in its COVID-19 death toll with 266 more people succumbing to disease, while 29,824 new cases pushed the tally to 11,82,848.

The death toll in the state now stands at 11,943. A total of 35,903 patients were discharged after recovery in the past 24 hours.

Of the 266 fresh deaths, Allahabad recorded 21 deaths, followed by 15 in Hardoi, 14 in Varanasi, 13 each in Lucknow and Kanpur, 12 each in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Ghaziabad, 11 in Gorakhpur and 10 in Agra, the government said.

Of the new cases, Lucknow reported 3,759 cases, followed by 1,909 in Varanasi, 1,650 in Kanpur, 1,355 in Meerut, 1,261 in Allahabad, 1,076 in Agra, 1,045 in Gorakhpur and 1,041 in Bareilly.

( With inputs from ANI )