The Uttar Pradesh Government decided to do away with the mandatory Sunday closure across the State and instead ordered restoration of the old system of staggered market closure.
The decision was announced by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at a Team 11 meeting held in Lucknow on Tuesday.
“Restore the original system of weekly closure of different markets instead of Sunday closure. All hotels and restaurants, except those in containment zones, should restart normal activities but by following coronavirus protection protocol,” the chief minister said. Last week, the state government had announced that shops would remain closed across the state only on Sundays, rescinding its previous order of two-day weekend restrictions.
In that order, the government had said that all markets and business establishments would open for 12 hours (9 am to 9 pm) and Sunday would be the weekly closure.
With the new order restoring the old system of weekly closure of markets, the government also ended the Sunday lockdown with immediate effect. Though the chief minister’s statement does not mention lockdown, but with opening of markets on Sunday, it is implied that the government has decided to do away with the Sunday restriction.
The chief minister directed officials to expedite economic activities besides making people aware of preventive measures against the Coronavirus pandemic.