The timings for the COVID-19 curfew in Andhra Pradesh have been relaxed in eight of the 13 districts in the state. The revised curfew timings will be in place from June 30 to July 7. The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday said that five districts will continue to follow the earlier curfew timings from 6 pm to 6 am, while in eight districts, the curfew timings have been relaxed from 9 pm to 6 pm. Shops and restaurants are allowed to function but have been directed to close down by 10 pm, even for home delivery. The state has also directed schools and malls to remain closed for another 10 days, besides issuing restrictions to regulate other social gatherings.
The districts where curfew timings have been relaxed are Srikakulam, Nellore, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Kadapa, Kurnool, Anantapur and Guntur. In the five districts of East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Chittoor and Prakasam, the curfew timings will remain from 6 pm to 6 am and a decision on relaxation time for these districts will be taken after June 30.
The relaxation comes at a time when Andhra Pradesh has reported 4,250 new COVID-19 cases and 33 deaths in the latest 24-hour period. East Godavari district reported the maximum number of new cases at 890 followed by 673 in Chittoor, 461 in Prakasam, 417 in West Godavari and 399 in Krishna. A total of 95,327 samples were tested during the period and of them, 4,250 were found positive. With this, the cumulative number of cases in the state jumped to 18.79 lakh.
The fresh fatalities pushed the cumulative death toll to 12,599. According to the daily media bulletin issued by the state command control room, Krishna district accounted for eight deaths during the 24-hour period. Six people succumbed to the virus in Chittoor followed by four each in East Godavari and Srikakulam, three in Nellore, two each in Kurnool and Guntur and one each in Anantapur, Prakasam, Vizianagaram and West Godavari. The 24-hour period also saw 5,570 people recovering from the virus. With this, the cumulative number of recovered people rose to 18.22 lakh. The number of active cases has dropped to 44,773.
(With IANS inputs)