UP govt makes wearing of mask compulsory in NCR, Lucknow amid rising cases

The Uttar Pradesh government on Monday made it compulsory for people to wear a face mask in public places in capital Lucknow and six NCR districts amid a rise in Covid cases in some adjoining states, an official said. The increase in Covid cases has had an impact on the districts falling under the falling under the national capital region (NCR). Keeping this in mind, the government has made use of masks mandatory in public places in Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Meerut, Bulandshahr, Baghpat as well as capital Lucknow, an official spokesperson said here.

In the last 24 hours, 65 new Covid cases have been confirmed in Gautam Buddh Nagar, 20 in Ghaziabad and 10 in Lucknow, the official said, adding that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered “close monitoring” of the situation. Earlier, seventy people, including 14 children, have tested positive for COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh's Gautam Buddh Nagar which falls in the Delhi-NCR, pushing the number of active infections to over 200. The Covid cases are showing a rising trend in Delhi and its adjoining areas.Yogi Adityanath has directed officials to send samples of COVID-19 patients for genome sequencing. Amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar, the Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday put all the National Capital Region (NCR) districts on alert mode, according to an official statement. Directions to this effect were given by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath while chairing a meeting on COVID-19 management in the state, the statement said.