The Telangana government extended the lockdown from Monday till June 9 with relaxations from 6 am to 1 pm every day, an official statement from the Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s office said, reported PTI. The state Cabinet met in Hyderabad on Sunday to discuss several matters, including the extension of the lockdown.

The government further extended the relaxation on movement till 2 pm so that those who stepped out of their homes can return. The lockdown would be strictest between 2 pm and 6 am.

Under the new guidelines, government offices, land and property transactions in registration offices and vehicle registration in transport offices would be allowed to operate, provided they maintain Covid-19 and lockdown relaxation norms, reported The Hindu.

Ahead of the Cabinet meeting, All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi urged Rao not to extend the lockdown. “It’s not a strategy to combat COVID-19. It appears as a ‘hard on pandemic’ strategy but all it does is destroy the lives of poor,” he tweeted. “As data shows, Covid cases were already reducing much much before lockdown was imposed on 12th May. It’s quite clear that it’s not lockdown that helped. It’s also clear that COVID can be combatted without lockdown.”

He also listed various measures to highlight that a lockdown was not the only option against Covid-19. “If goal is to reduce crowding, then we may consider evening curfews (6 pm onwards) or mini-lockdowns for Covid clusters. But expecting approximately 3.5 crore people to live for weeks with just a 4 hour lockdown relaxation is not fair at all.”

Odisha

The Odisha government on Sunday extended the restrictions in the state for 16 more days till 5 am on June 17 to curb the spread of Covid-19, reported PTI. The shutdown on weekends will also continue.

“The lockdown is primarily aimed at restricting movement of people and not goods,” Chief Secretary SC Mohapatra said. “All restrictions and exemptions of the previous lockdowns will be implemented in the third phase, too.”

For three districts, Nuapada, Gajapati and Sundergarh, the restrictions were eased between 7 am and 1 pm, from Monday to Friday. “This relaxation may be withdrawn if there is any sign of rise in infections,” Mohapatra said.

All business establishments, apart from salons, parlours and shopping malls, will be allowed to operate with strict Covid-19 guidelines in Nuapada, Gajapati and Sundergarh.

Curbs such as a limit of 25 people at a wedding and 20 attendants at funerals will go on and mass feasts will continue to be prohibited.

Additional Chief Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department PK Mohapatra said the second wave’s peak was over in Odisha, and that he hoped the situation will improve in the next 10 days.

Nine of Odisha’s 30 districts, including Khorda, Cuttack, Balasore and Puri, contribute 60% of the total active Covid-19 cases, Mohapatra said. Twelve of the districts had recorded a test positivity rate more than the state average last week, reported the Hindustan Times.

Mohapatra added that 98% of healthcare workers and near 100% of frontline workers had so far been vaccinated, reported PTI.