Haryana Covid Lockdown Extended Till May 31, Some Restrictions Eased

The Haryana government has extended the coronavirus lockdown - due to end on Monday - by another week while easing some restrictions - allowing stand-alone shops to open during the day and others to open on alternative days.

This is the fourth time that the state government has extended the lockdown amid the second wave sweeping the country. The lockdown was first announced on May 3. A cap of 11 persons had been enforced for weddings and funerals, as part of the restrictions.

"Stand-alone shops are allowed to open during the day when the night curfew Is not in operation," the latest order said. The night curfew in the state begins at 6 pm and ends at 5 am.

"Shops other than stand-alone shops are allowed to Open from 7:00 am to 12 noon in two groups namely odd and even - shops with odd numbers on odd dates and shops with even numbers on even dates. Malls are not allowed to open," it added.

Before the lockdown, at one stage, the daily case count in Haryana had touched 16,000, which has come down to nearly 5,000.

The state on Saturday reported 98 coronavirus deaths as 5,021 fresh cases pushed the state's infection count to 7,33,628, a Health Department bulletin said.

The infection has killed 7,415 people till now in the state, according to official records, but the number is expected to be an underestimate since non-hospital deaths are rarely counted.

According to the bulletin, nine deaths each were reported from Gurgaon and Hisar, seven each from Ambala and Karnal and six each from Faridabad and Rewari districts.

Gurgaon reported the maximum 516 cases, followed by Jhajjar at 384, and Rohtak at 296.

Currently, the state has 47,993 active cases. Over two weeks ago, there were nearly 1.15 lakh active cases in the state.

The positivity rate - share of tests which come back positive - stands at 8.53 per cent.