Telangana lockdown extended till May 29, curfew to continue

• The Telangana government has extended the Coronavirus lockdown till May 29.
• The government has issued new guidelines for opening of shops in urban and rural areas in the orange and green zones.
• Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Malkajgiri-Medchal have been classified as red zones.

The Telangana lockdown has been extended till May 29, the state government today announced after a marathon cabinet meeting of around 7 hours. The K Chandrashekhar Rao government has decided that it will not allow any relaxations, and the curfew will continue as is for the lockdown period. The CM added that irrespective of the centre's decision, the lockdown will continue even after the nationwide lockdown ends on May 17.

“The situation in the State capital, Hyderabad, and its neighbouring districts, Rangareddy and Malkajigiri-Medchal district is very serious and there is no way we can take any chances.” said the CM at Pragati Bhavan. “We are in flattening stage and in near future we will crush the pandemic in the state.” he added.

So far, 1096 cases of Coronavirus have been reported in the state and out of this, 628 people have been discharged so far. Majority of the fresh cases are being reported from GHMC, which includes the state's capital Hyderabad. As per the CM, originally, the epicenter for Coronavirus in the state was Karimnagar but the government was able to control the spread of the disease.

Shops in 25 districts to open from May 6

The CM also announced that all shops in the orange and green zones, which covers 25 districts of the state will be allowed to open from May 6. However, non-essential shops will continue to remain closed in the three red zones - Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Malkajgiri-Medchal.

However, the state government has put some restrictions 0n the shops even in the orange and green zones. In municipal towns, only 50% of the shops will be allowed to operate and in rural areas, including mandals and villages, 100% of the shops will be permitted to operate. The CM added that shops in municipal towns will be opened on a rotational basis.

“This will be on a rotational basis, and all shop-owners will get a chance to open their shops on alternate days,” the CM said.

Review meeting on May 15

While it is unlikely that the lockdown will be relaxed before May 29, the Telangana government has announced that a review meeting will be held on May 15. It is expected that the situation in various parts of the state, especially the red zones and the measures being taken by the government will be reviewed during this meeting.

SSC exams to be conducted soon

The Telangana government intends to conduct the SSC examination soon. The Advocate General has been asked to file a petition in the Telangana High Court as the matter is adjudicated before the court. The government has said that it will take all precautions, including social distancing to conduct the SSC exams.

See also:

Telangana Coronavirus cases

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