All markets in Uttar Pradesh to open only from Monday-Friday

LUCKNOW: All markets in Uttar Pradesh will function from Monday to Friday, irrespective of their weekly closure days.
As part of the government’s initiative to restrict social activity over weekends, it has directed all markets, shops, malls, restaurants to remain closed on Saturday and Sunday. To compensate for the closure, markets have been told to operate from 9am to 9pm over the week. “If a market’s weekly holiday was on any day during the week, it will be shifted to the weekend,” said additional chief secretary, home, Awanish Awasthi.
Adding that chief minister Yogi Adityanath was pleased with the response to the first weekend of restrictions, implemented on July 11 and 12, Awasthi said the CM had ordered extensive sanitization and cleanliness in all districts on Saturdays and Sundays, especially markets since they would be shut during the weekend. Industrial units and other commercial activity will continue during the restrictions. Places of religious worship will also remain open, the CM has said.
Meanwhile, as the number of Covid-19 cases in the state touched 38,130 with 1,664 cases added in 24 hours till Monday morning, the CM gave directions to carry out special surveillance in Jhansi, Kanpur, Varanasi, Ballia, Azamgarh, Deoria and Gorakhpur districts. He has also asked for more test samples to be collected in Ballia, Jhansi, Ghaziabad and Varanasi.
Till Monday afternoon, Jhansi had recorded 601 Covid positive cases with 36 added in the past 24 hours; Kanpur had 1,815 cases with 83 in the past day; Varanasi had 924 with 67 added in the past day; Ballia had 426 cases with 29 added on Monday; Azamgarh’s tally was 364 with 11 added in the past 24 hours. Deoria’s total went up to 445 with the addition of 69 cases in the past 24 hours; Gorakhpur had 715 cases with 47 added in the past 24 hours, while Ghaziabad’s total was 3,276 cases with 120 added on Monday.
“The CM has said that in districts where the number of positive cases is high, the health department should start using mobile testing vans to be able to pick up more samples,” Awasthi said.