The Gautam Buddh Nagar district administration in Uttar Pradesh has said that any worker or employee infected with coronavirus and in isolation for treatment will get 28 days of paid leave from their employers, PTI reported on Sunday.

In orders passed on Saturday night, the administration added that shops, industries and factories closed because of the lockdown will have to provide a daily wage along with leave to their workers.

Gautam Buddh Nagar District Magistrate BN Singh said the Uttar Pradesh government has already declared the pandemic a “disaster”. “Workers and employees who are infected with COVID-19 and kept in isolation for treatment will get 28 days’ paid leave,” he said. “This will be done only when such patients produce a certificate of treatment to their employers upon being discharged as healthy.”

Singh said he has invoked the powers vested in him as the district magistrate under the National Disaster Management Act, 2005. He said any violation of the order would attract penalty under Section 51 of the Act. This section provides for one year of imprisonment or financial penalty or both for flouting the order, and two years of jail time if there is any loss of life or property. The magistrate said people can use the administration’s integrated control room number – 0120-2544700 – to report violations.

An Uttar Pradesh health department official said that Gautam Buddh Nagar district, in which Noida is located, has recorded 26 cases of Covid-19 so far, of which four patients have recovered.

Landlords asked not to demand rent from tenants

The district administration asked landlords not to demand rent from their tenants for a month, The Indian Express reported. In the last two days, thousands of labourers living in rented accommodations across Noida and Greater Noida have been walking towards villages in Uttar Pradesh.

“It has come to our notice that several labourers are being asked for rent, which is forcing them to move out and travel back to their homes,” Singh said. “In such a case, the possibility of the infection spreading is higher. We need to assure them the security of a house. Landlords are instructed to not collect rent for one month from any tenant labourer.”

The district magistrate added that exodus of labourers is also affecting the supply chain of essential commodities. He said that the landlords can demand rent after a month if no other order is issued in the interim. Singh also clarified that the Adityanath-led government will not reimburse the landlords.

The Uttar Pradesh government had on Saturday arranged 200 buses to transport migrants coming in from Delhi to parts of the state.

The total number of cases in Uttar Pradesh stands at 55, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Nationally, the count is 979, with 25 deaths.