Police tighten vigil in COVID-19 hotspots in Lucknow

Lucknow, Apr 9 () Police have stepped up vigil and barricades were erected in eight major and four minor COVID-19 hotspots in the Uttar Pradesh capital that have been completely sealed to check the spread of the the deadly virus.

Police teams are carrying out patrolling in these localities to ensure that nobody ventures out of their homes, Police Commissioner, Lucknow, Sujit Pandey said.

"All the hotspots in the city are already barricaded and are being sealed completely till the morning of April 15. All establishments will be closed in these localities and the media's entry too will be restricted," he said.

Only basic minimum supply of essential commodities will be maintained in these localities, Pandey said.

He said fire brigade vehicles will sanitise these areas and only select cleaning staff will be allowed to enter the hotspots.

The eight major hotspots in the state capital included localities near eight mosques where Tablighi Jamaat members were found staying.

The minor hotspots are in Vijay Khand and Gomti Nagar, where four members of a family including a two and a half years old child tested positive for COVID-19.

A locality near Alina Enclave in Khurramnagar, where a local tested positive, has also been marked as minor hotspot.

Another minor hotspot is in a locality in the Madiaon area after a man tested positive there. A locality near a clinic at Munshipulia, where a man infected with COVID-19 was treated for some time, has also been declared a hotspot.

The Uttar Pradesh government had on Wednesday decided to completely seal off coronavirus hotspots in 15 districts to stop the spread of the infection, announcing curfew-like restrictions there.

Officials had said the administration will ensure doorstep delivery of items like vegetables and milk in these clusters.

Passes issued to allow essential movement are cancelled in these hotspots which will remain "sealed" up to April 15 morning, when the current three-week nationwide lockdown is scheduled to end, they had said.