India News | Four Day Total Lockdown in Puducherry from April 23

Puducherry, Apr 20 (PTI) With COVID-19 cases seeing a surge in Puducherry, the territorial government on Tuesday announced a total lockdown from April 23 to 26 to check its spread.

"A total lockdown will be observed in the whole of the Union Territory from 10 PM on April 23 to 5 AM on April 26 as part of the measures to contain spread of the virus in Puducherry," a release from the office of Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said.

On other days,all shops and business establishments would be permitted to conduct business up to 2 PM. Hotels and restaurants would be permitted to sell eatables in parcels after 2 PM, it said.

Marriages would be permitted only with limited number of invitees as had already been announced .

No religious processions or car festivals would be held by places of worship while prayers would be permitted with adherence to safety protocols.

Masks and sanitisers would be sold at subsidized prices through the cooperative milk parlours from Wednesday, it said.

The release said that the number of beds for inpatients in Covid hospitals would be increased and covid care centres would also be opened additionally at various centres.

Medicines and other medical facilities would be ramped up.

Adequate stocks of vaccines would be procured as those above 18 years would also be vaccinated from May 1.

The union territory has been witnessing a steady increase in daily cases and deaths over the last fortnight.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)