COVID-19: Haryana government limits social gathering to 50 in NCR districts

CHANDIGARH:  With a view to contain the recent surge in Covid-19 cases, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Tuesday said the Haryana government has decided to limit the number of people allowed at social gatherings like marriages, religious or political functions with a view to contain the recent surge in Covid-19 cases.

In the six National Capital Region (NCR) districts of Gurugram, Faridabad, Rewari, Rohtak, Hisar and Sonipat, the government has decided to limit the number of persons allowed at social gatherings to a maximum 50 for such events held indoor and 100 for outdoor.

However, in the remaining districts of the state, the gathering has been limited to 100 people for indoor functions and 200 for outdoor ones.

“These orders will be effective from November 26,” Khattar informed this during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s interaction via video conference with chief ministers of states that are witnessing a surge in coronavirus cases, a state government statement said.

Haryana’s Health Minister Anil Vij was also present. Khattar ruled out the possibility of imposing a night curfew to help check the spread of the virus in the state.

“During night time, especially in winters in Haryana, there is not much movement of people and imposing a night curfew is not going to serve much purpose,” he said.

During the video conference, Khattar said the situation of Covid-19 in Haryana remained satisfactory in the “first and second phase”.

“However, in the third wave of Covid-19 (in November), a spurt in the number of cases has been registered in the past few days, especially in the districts adjoining the NCR,” Khattar said.

The CM said the state government has ramped up Covid- 19 testing in the region.

The state on Tuesday reported 33 more COVID-19 fatalities, the highest single-day fatality count so far, taking the death toll to 2,249 while 2,329 fresh cases pushed the infection tally to 2,22,292.

Of the 33 deaths, five were reported from worst-hit Faridabad district, three from Gurgaon, four from Hisar and two each from Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Sirsa, Bhiwani, Jhajjar, Fatehabad and Charkhi Dadri, among others, according to the state health department's daily bulletin.

On November 18, Haryana had reported 30 coronavirus deaths.

The districts which reported a huge spike in cases include Gurgaon (822), Faridabad (557), Hisar (164) and Rewari (117).

At present, there are 20,765 active cases, positivity rate in the state is 6.89 per cent, while the recovery rate is 89.65 per cent.