Telangana govt decides to lift lockdown completely from tomorrow

After over a month of imposing lockdown curbs to check the COVID-19 surge, the Telangana government on Saturday decided to lift the shutdown in the state from Sunday in view of a decline in coronavirus cases and also reopen educational institutions from July 1.

The state cabinet, which met on Saturday, took decisions to this effect and directed officials of all departments to remove all restrictions imposed during the lockdown, an official release said.

The decision was taken after examining reports submitted by medical and health department officials that COVID-19 cases have come down in the state and the virus is now under control,it said.

Telangana on Friday reported 1,417 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the tally to 6,10,834, while the toll rose to 3,546 with 12 more deaths.

According to the release, the cabinet took note that the virus is coming under control in neighbouring states as well.

On June 8, the Cabinet had decided to extend the lockdown for 10 days (up to Saturday).

The state government had first imposed the shutdown from May 12 during the second wave of the COVID-19 spread and extended it subsequently.

As part of the lockdown that came to an end on Saturday, relaxation has been given from 6 AM to 5 PM with a grace period of one hour (up to 6 PM) for people to reach home.

The education department has been directed to reopen all categories of educational institutions from July 1 with students allowed to attend classes physically.

In view of the decision to reopen educational institutions, the cabinet has asked the education department to prepare guidelines on different issues, including students' attendance and online classes and release it at the earliest, it said.

Observing that the decision (to end lockdown) was taken with the view that the livelihood of common people should not suffer, the cabinet sought support and cooperation from people, reminding them that COVID-19 precautions like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing should be followed.