Haryana extends Covid-related restrictions till February 10, gives relaxations to malls and markets

By PTI

CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government on Wednesday extended Covid-related restrictions in the state till February 10, but allowed malls and markets to remain open till 7 pm, extending the relaxation by one hour.

Initially, various restrictions imposed by the January 5 order in some districts, which had witnessed a big spike in cases, were imposed in all districts, the Haryana State Disaster Management Authority (HSDMA) had said in an earlier order issued on January 13.

Now, the guidelines released through orders on January 5, 10, 13 and 18 have been extended till February 10, as per the HSDMA order dated January 26.

As per an earlier order, the restrictions which had been extended up to January 28, will now remain in force till 5 am of February 10.

The malls and markets are allowed to open up to 7 pm as against 6 pm earlier.

However, shops selling essential items like milk and medicine will be allowed to open at all times to enable them to serve the public at large.

Earlier on January 10, the Haryana government had banned large gatherings of people such as rallies and protests.

Cinema halls, theatres and multiplexes shall remain closed, the earlier order issued on January 5 had stated.

All sports complexes, swimming pools, gyms and stadia shall remain closed except when being used for training of sportspersons for participation in national and international events, it had said.

Haryana has witnessed a huge spike in Covid cases over the past few weeks.

To check the spread of the infection, the state government had banned people eligible for vaccination but not fully vaccinated from entering shopping malls, cinema halls, restaurants and grain markets, among other crowded places, starting January 1.

A night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am is already in force in the state.

Seven more people died from coronavirus in Haryana on Wednesday as 6,351 fresh cases surfaced, pushing the state’s infection count to 9,27,206, according to a Health Department bulletin.

So far, 10,219 people have died from the infection in the state.

The worst-hit Gurugram district reported 2,261 fresh cases.

Faridabad, Panchkula, Ambala and Rohtak reported 668, 387, 277 and 243 fresh infections, respectively.

One each death was reported from Gurugram, Faridabad, Hisar, Karnal, Panchkula, Kurukshetra and Kaithal, as per the bulletin.

The total active Covid cases in the state were 39,565.