Puducherry government has extended the Covid lockdown till the midnight of June 7 to curtail the second wave of the virus in the Union Territory. The lockdown, imposed on May 10, was first extended beyond May 24 and would remain in force till May 31.
Again, it has now been extended for a week till June 7, said a release from the office of the Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Saturday. Essential services have already been permitted and would be available till noon every day from 5 AM.
A proposal was forwarded by the government to the Lieutenant Governor for extension of the lockdown till June 7 midnight, the release said. Self-employed people providing basic services of repair, maintenance of electrical, plumbing, water purifier and vehicles are brought under the classification of exemption during the lockdown.
The Lieutenant Governor has also accorded approval to incur expenditure of Rs 1.05 crore to buy Covishield drug from Serum Institute of India Limited Pune for vaccinating residents of Puducherry in the age group of 18 to 44 years. The government is also permitted to purchase the injection Liposomal Amphotericin on emergency basis to treat patients with black fungus (mucormycosis) and expenditure sanction for Rs 2.83 lakhs had been approved to purchase the drug for management of the disease, it said.
She gave her nod to recruit 214 health care workers to work on short-term contract basis to tackle the second wave of Covid-19. She approved sanction of Rs 4.52 crore to the Slum Clearance Board of Puducherry to implement the housing projects under the Pradhan Manthri Awas Yojana in the Union Territory, the release said.
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