Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday offered prayers at the Gorakhnath Temple as places of worship reopened under the Centre’s ‘Unlock-1’ strategy to get the country and economy back on track after the coronavirus lockdown.
In its fresh guidelines on reopening of places of worship, the Uttar Pradesh government mandated that no religious site will open without prior permission from the district admission. No more than five people can gather in a religious place at one time.
The latest rules make it compulsory for places of worship to have alcohol-based sanitisers and thermal scanners at their entrance and allow only asymptomatic people to enter. Those not wearing face masks will be refused entry and devotees should leave their footwear behind in their vehicles. Touching idols will not be allowed and no 'prasad' distribution will take place. Group singing will be replaced by records.
The visitors to religious places will have to use their own mats for sitting there and their managing authorities will have to ensure social distancing in shrines, said Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi.
As per the norms, framed in accordance with the Centre's standard operating procedure, the state government also advised people over 65 years of age, children younger than 10 years, pregnant women and people with various ailments to avoid venturing out in open even after June 8.
On Saturday, Adityanath had said “Unlock doesn't mean freedom” as he instructed officials to ensure that not more than five persons gather in public places and social distancing norms are strictly adhered to.
The Centre had on May 30 said 'Unlock-1' will be initiated in the country from June 8 under which the nationwide Covid-19 lockdown effectuated on March 25 will be relaxed to a great extent, including opening of shopping malls, restaurants and religious places, even as strict restrictions will remain in place till June 30 in the country's worst-hit areas.
Uttar Pradesh on Saturday recorded 382 new cases, taking the total tally to 10,103 in the state. According to data released by Uttar Pradesh Health Department, 11 people have succumbed to the infection in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 268 in the state. While there are 3,927 active cases and 5,908 patients have been cured of the disease.
In Uttar Pradesh, Agra continues to remain as one of the worst-affected districts with 939 Covid-19 cases so far, followed by Gautam Buddh Nagar (623), Meerut (502), Kanpur (498), Lucknow (445), Ghaziabad (403), Firozabad (313), Saharanpur (266), Jaunpur (264), Moradabad (253), and Basti (228).
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