In a shocking visual shared by the Executive Editor of India Today Shiv Aroor, large crowds can be seen flocking the markets at Charminar, old Hyderabad, flouting every single COVID-19 protocol.
It is not just social distancing that has gone for a complete toss, many can be seen roaming with no masks in the video dated May 05, 2021. The video has now gone viral on social media.
Charminar, Hyderabad, yesterday.#COVID19India pic.twitter.com/p1LvCFRn2D
— Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) May 6, 2021
Currently, the business hours in the market extend up to 8:30 pm after which the city goes into a lockdown.
Telangana High Court slams the state government
The Telangana High Court on Wednesday ordered the state government to impose additional restrictive measures to flatten the curve in the state. The Court observed that stricter measures will have to be taken besides extending the night curfew and imposing a weekend lockdown.
Pulling up the state for intentionally reducing tests in the state, the division bench of the High Court comprising Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy slammed the government saying, “Our instructions to the government for the last several weeks to show some heed and to increase Covid testing have been like water off a duck’s back. The government is continuously reducing testing since the last week from 92,000 to 70,000. This automatically shows a decrease in the number of infected persons. By that, you are saying there is a fall in Covid cases. This is not correct.”
Ordering the state to conduct one lakh COVID tests per day, the bench remarked, “Testing at private centres is static but is decreasing at government centres.”
Director of Public Health Dr G Srinivasa Rao cited not enough people coming to the 1,100 testing centres across the state for getting tested as the reason for less testing numbers.
The court also instructed the government to limit gathering, however, it can be seen in the video that the orders have not been taken seriously.
Observing the violations of COVID protocols and spiritual gatherings at Nampally, Afzalgunj, Madina and Charminar, the court reiterated the need to keep a check on crowds. The police have been ordered to step in to control the gatherings and congregations by implementing stricter rules.
Second wave of the pandemic
This comes amidst the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic which has left the nation struggling with 3-4 lakh new COVID-19 cases being clocked every day.
Moreover, after the detection of the N400K variant of the novel coronavirus which was said to be 15 times more infectious and dominated cases till February, the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are also battling the double mutant.
The double mutant which wreaked havoc in Maharashtra since a little over a month has now tightened its grip around the Southern states of India.
Telangana reported over 6000 new coronavirus cases and recorded 52 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Preparations for Eid in Kolkata
The Calcutta Khilafat Committee (CKC) in Kolkata, which is responsible for arranging Eid-ul-Fitr Namaz in the city every year, is awaiting the state government’s nod for conducting the same on Red Road this year. The occasion records a gathering of over two lakh every year.
The Red Road gathering is said to be the biggest congregation in the nation to offer special prayers on the occasion of Eid-ul- Fitr.