Lockdown extended in Puducherry till June 21 with additional relaxations

Owing to the current Covid situation in the Union Territory (UT), the Puducherry government on Monday extended the coronavirus curbs till June 21 (midnight). With the decline in cases, the authorities have eased the restrictions. According to the new guidelines, marriage-related gatherings have been permitted with a maximum of  25 guests. The funeral/last rites processions have been allowed with not more than 20 people.

“Restaurants and bar facilities within hotels, lodges & guest houses & other standalone eateries shall be permitted to operate with 50% capacity up to 5 pm,” guidelines adds.

Advertisement

Puducherry has been witnessing a decline in the number of fresh coronavirus cases with 309 new infections being reported on Monday as against 402 the previous day. The 309 new cases were identified at the end of the examination of 7,657 swabs during the last 24 hours ending 10 am Monday, Director of Health S Mohan Kumar said.

The overall tally of Covid-19 cases in the union territory stood at 1,12,837 while total recoveries were at 1,06,199 after 686 patients recovered and were discharged during the last 24 hours.

Earlier, the corona lockdown in Puducherry was extended till June 14 starting from midnight June 7. All categories of liquor shops were allowed to operate between 9 am and 5 pm. The Puducherry State Executive Committee extended the lockdown by easing certain restrictions under the Disaster Management Act, 2005 as the union territory saw a steep fall in the number of new coronavirus cases.

“Accordingly, all categories of liquor shops, viz., FL.1 / FL.2 / Arrack and Toddy shops except Bars and FL.2 Tourism Category licences were allowed to function between 09.00 AM and 05.00 PM with effect from 08.06.2021 to 14.06.2021 (mid-night) by strictly adhering to the Standard Operating Procedures issued by this office vide circular cited under reference (2),” the order said.

It added, “Therefore, it is requested to ensure that the directives issued by this department in the circular cited under reference (2) about COVID-19 safety protocols are scrupulously followed by the liquor shops in full spirit without any deviation and also to ensure strict enforcement of crowd regulation at liquor shops; particularly at liquor and arrack shops located in the border areas.”