Himachal Pradesh: 10-day 'corona curfew' from May 7, offices to remain shut - Details

To break the coronavirus chain, the Himachal Pradesh government on Wednesday decided to impose curfew in the state from May 7 (Thursday midnight) to May 16.

All government and private offices and establishments will remain closed. However, essential services like health, electricity, telecommunication, water supply, sanitation, etc., would be open.

The decision to impose the "corona curfew" in the state was taken at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

Restrictions imposed-

1. The cabinet decided that work would continue at civil worksites and horticultural, agricultural and other projects, while educational institutions would remain closed till May 31.

2. Government and private transport would ply with 50 percent of occupancy and inter-state transport would continue. 

3. Industrial establishments would work as per the guidelines issued by the state government.

4. Keeping in view the sharp surge of cases, it was decided that the annual examination of Class 10 of the Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education would be cancelled.

5. All students would be promoted to Class 11 by the school board as per the norms suggested by the CBSE for its students for Class 10.

6. It was also decided that Class 12 examination of the school board and annual examination of colleges would also be suspended till further orders.

The Cabinet gave the approval to upgrade the regional hospital in Una town as 300-bed regional hospital along with creation of 76 posts of different categories to ensure better healthcare facilities.

Himachal Pradesh on Tuesday recorded the highest single-day spike of 3,824 fresh COVID-19 cases and 48 deaths. The COVID-19 death toll in the state now stands at 1,647 and tally at 1,10,945.

Of the state's new casualties, 15 were reported in the worst-hit district of Kangra, following 11 in Solan, six in Sirmaur, four each in Shimla and Hamirpur, three in Una, two each in Chamba and Kullu and one in Mandi, Special Health Secretary Nipun Jindal said.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state has climbed to 23,572.

Kangra has the highest number of active cases in the state at 5,775, followed by 3,100 in Solan, 2,820 in Mandi, 2,413 in Shimla, 2,331 in Sirmaur, 1,739 in Bilaspur, 1,709 in Hamirpur, 1,438 in Una, 1,017 in Chamba, 671 each in Kullu and Kinnaur and 301 in Lahaul-Spiti.