Uttar Pradesh / UP government also lifted Sunday's curfew amid decreasing cases of Covid-19

Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on Friday lifted the Sunday curfew in the state in wake of the consistent decline in COVID-19 cases. In a statement, the Uttar Pradesh government said all markets can reopen normally across the state, but would need to follow appropriate COVID-19 norms and guidelines.

This comes after several women organisations in Uttar Pradesh requested Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to lift the Sunday lockdown. Several cinema hall owners had also asked the Chief Minister to lift the restrictions, saying it was affecting their businesses.

A complete corona curfew was imposed in Uttar Pradesh after India got hit by the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in April and May this year. However, the curfew was imposed after a decline in cases, but the state government had said that curbs would continue on Saturdays and Sundays.

Later, the Yogi Adityanath government said that curbs would only be imposed in Uttar Pradesh on Sundays.

Active cases in Uttar Pradesh drops below 500

The Uttar Pradesh health department has said that the active COVID-19 tally in the state has dropped below the 500-mark. In its daily updates, it said that the state currently has 407 active cases while more than 16.85 lakh patients have recovered from the infection.

The Uttar Pradesh health department also said that 29 people had tested positive for the infection in the state on Thursday, pushing the total caseload to 17.09 lakh. Meanwhile, the state reported just two fatalities during the same period, taking the death toll to 22,789.

It said that the deaths were reported from Banda and Bulandshahr.

Meanwhile, the health department said that more than 6.99 crore samples have been tested for the pathogen in the state so far, out of which over 2.36 lakh samples were tested during the previous day.