Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday announced that 15 districts in the state would be under lockdown in the first phase till Wednesday in wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The announcement came soon after the central and state governments decided to put under lockdown 75 districts across the country, where cases of novel coronavirus have been reported.
"Fifteen districts in the state will be locked down in the first phase from Monday," Adityanath told reporters in Gorakhpur.
The districts where the lockdown has been enforced in the first phase are Lucknow, Agra, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Ghaziabad, Varanasi, Allahabad, Kanpur, Aligarh, Moradabad, Lakhimpur Kheiri, Bareilly, Azamgarh, Meerut, Gorakhpur and Saharanpur.
The lockdown will continue till Wednesday, he said. "I appeal to all the citizens that they should stay indoors and not venture out of their homes."
"Unnecessary crowding should be avoided, and people should avoid gathering at public places. This is because as we are standing at a juncture, where even a slight laxity can prove to be harmful," the chief minister said.
Adityanath said officials of the police and district administration would patrol these districts.
"No activity will be done in these districts, where lockdown has been enforced. We will review the situation tomorrow. If any family needs anything in emergency, 112 service of the state police will be available," he said.
"The 15 districts where lockdown has been enforced are those districts, where coronavirus infected cases have been found. These districts will be thoroughly sanitised. Cleanliness drives are already going on for the last three days," the chief minister said.
"People from Mumbai, Surat and other places arrived in large numbers at Jaunpur, Mirzapur, Mau, Kushinagar, Jhansi, Ghazipur, Ayodhya, Basti, Barabanki, Deoria, Ballia, Santkabirnagar and Gonda district yesterday and today. My appeal to them is to stay at home. The administration is making the list of such persons, and making provisions to keep them separately," he said.
On the slightest suspicion, they would be immediately sent to isolation wards, and given free treatment, he said.
"Residents of districts bordering Nepal -- Maharajganj, Siddharthanagar, Shrawasti, Balrampur, Bahraich and Pilibhit -- must remain alert. If there are any health issues, people can call on 102 and 108 helpline numbers," the chief minister said.
The Uttar Pradesh State Roadways Transport Corporation will remain completely closed from March 23 to 25.
"Inter-state connectivity of UP with other bordering states will remain completely shutdown. For the next three days, no bus from Uttar Pradesh will go to any other state," Adityanath said.
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