As the coronavirus cases increases, monuments and museums under the central government’s control will be closed till May 15, officials said on Thursday.
India’s daily coronavirus caseload has multiplied in 10 days, with a record 2 lakh new infections logged Thursday as authorities wrestle with shortages of vaccines, treatments and hospital beds.
For having let its guard down with mass religious festivals, political rallies and crowds at cricket matches, India is undergoing an unruly second wave, recording almost 20 lakh fresh infections this month alone.
In this week, it overtook Brazil to become the country with the second-highest number of cases worldwide, after the United States.
In the past day it also recorded over 1,000 deaths, health ministry data showed, taking its total to 1.75 lakh although on a per-capita basis India is far behind many other countries.
Last year after a nationwide lockdown that had caused widespread misery and one of the sharpest downturns of any major economy, the government is desperate to avoid recurring the hugely unpopular shutdown.
As many states are tightening the grips, in particular Maharashtra and its capital Mumbai, had in week introduced tougher restrictions for its 12.5 crore people.
This has assisted many migrant workers to flee Mumbai and other cities in the state, in scenes suggestive of the journey last year when the government halted all activity almost overnight.
The capital New Delhi on Thursday became the latest to force a weekend curfew and ordering shopping malls, gyms and spas to stay shut from Friday evening.
The megacity of around 2.5 crore citizens recorded over 17,000 fresh cases on Wednesday, it is the highest single-day tally since the pandemic began.
Uttar Pradesh, with a population of more than 24 crore, also forced curfews in major cities as it struggled to control a fresh wave in cases — with its chief minister Yogi Adityanath admitted to hospital with the virus on Thursday.
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