Puducherry imposes 14-day lockdown from May 10 amid COVID spike

In wake of rising cases of COVID-19, Puducherry on Saturday announced a complete lockdown to contain the spread of the viral disease in the Union Territory.

The restriction will come into effect from May 10 midnight and it will remain in force till May 2 midnight.

"The government of Puducherry had issued restriction orders to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus but the cases have not stabilized, but have risen since then. The last such lockdown order dated April 27, 2021 was effective up to May 3, 2021. As the curve is still not flattened, it is necessary to continue the restrictions beyond May 10, 2021 midnight to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission," reads the notification issued by the UT administration.

All beaches, parks, gardens will be closed for the public on all days and gathering and congregation in any form will be strictly prohibited.

Social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural or festival related and other gatherings in both open and closed spaces shall be prohibited, the notification read. However, the essential services will be permitted with terms and conditions.

"Provision stores, vegetable shops, shops dealing with food, groceries, meat, fish animal fodder shall be permitted to function till 12 noon without air-conditioning facility," it added.

Puducherry recorded 1,703 new COVID cases and 19 deaths in the last 24 hours, said the health department of the Union Territory on Saturday. With this, the case tally reached 70,076. The new fatalities pushed the COVID death toll in Puducherry to 939.

As many as 1,177 patients recovered from the disease in the said period, taking the total recoveries to 55,552. The active cases number of COVID cases in Puducherry stands at 13,585.