Chandigarh: Taking preventive measures against the prevailing COVID situation in the state, the Haryana government on Sunday imposed a complete lockdown in the state for seven days from May 3. An announcement to this effect was made by Haryana Minister Anil Vij.

Earlier, the state government had imposed weekend lockdown in the nine most-affected districts in the state. The lockdown came into force from 10 PM on Friday (April 30) and remain in force till 5 AM on Monday (May 3). Notably, the districts that are under lockdown include Panchkula, Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat, Rohtak, Karnal, Hisar, Sirsa and Fatehabad.

Moreover, the Haryana government has also decided to close all colleges, coaching institutions, ITIs, libraries, training institutes, both government and private, till May 31. Apart from this, all Anganwadi centres and creches under the Women and Child Development Department in the state shall also remain closed up to May 31.

On May 1, the Haryana government said it has decided that employees with severe disabilities, vulnerable persons and pregnant women shall not be called for duty, even if they are engaged in essential services. According to the decision, if required, they can work from home provided they have the necessary infrastructure. This exemption will remain in force till further orders, according to a government statement.

Employees of the age of 50 years or above, and those suffering from hypertension, blood pressure, heart or lung disease, cancer and other chronic diseases that are at high risk of developing a serious illness shall not be exposed to any frontline work requiring direct contact with the public, it said.

Haryana on Friday continued to register a sharp surge in COVID-19 cases and fatalities with the state recording biggest single-day jump of 98 deaths, raising the toll to 4,216, while 13,833 fresh infections pushed the tally to 4,87,978. On April 29, Haryana had recorded 97 fatalities and the biggest single-day surge in cases so far with 13,947 infections.