Markets across the state are now allowed to open from 9am to 9pm on all days except Sundays.
Markets will remain closed in the state on Sundays. (Photo: PTI)
The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday released fresh guidelines for ‘Unlock 4’ after announcing relaxations in several Covid-19 restrictions on Sunday evening.
Markets across the state are now allowed to open from 9am to 9pm on all days except Sundays. Markets will remain closed in the state on Sundays.
Though several relaxations were announced in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Centre, the UP government decided to continue with the weekend lockdown in an attempt to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also asked state officials to ramp up daily testing.
“The arrangement of lockdown with certain restrictions shall continue every Friday 10 pm to Monday 5 am, as per the previous order dated July 14, 2020. These guidelines will continue until further orders issued,” the UP government had said.
Earlier, Centre had said that states and union territories cannot enforce any local lockdowns outside Covid-19 containment zones without prior approval from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the Unlock-4 guidelines.
“State/ UT Governments shall not impose any local lockdown (State/ District/ sub-division/City/ village level), outside the containment zones, without prior consultation with the Central Government”, the Home Ministry said in a notification issued on Saturday evening.
The UP guidelines also said that no lockdown will be imposed outside containment zones in the state at the district level.
Meanwhile, in line with Centre’s guidelines, the UP government is also set to start metro services in the state from September 7, the SOPs for which will issued, said the guidelines.