Tired of uncooperative citizens, Hyderabad may extend lockdown till end of May
Hyderabad: The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has notified the state government to extend the lockdown in the state capital till the end of May.
Covid-19 cases have been increasing at alarming pace in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits. Another 30 cases were reported on Friday. Mayor Bonthu Rammohan puts the blame on the people and said if they do not cooperate with the government and observe the lockdown strictly, it would be extended until the coronavirus cases reach zero.
Rammohan said chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has taken a very serious view of people violating the lockdown protocol and may come up with stringent rules after the Cabinet meeting scheduled on April 19. He noted that though about 45,000 vehicles have been seized for violating lockdown rules, people were still moving about on the roads using fake passes.
"We have been keeping strict vigil only in the containment zones by trusting the others. The government is clueless about the number of coronavirus positive cases in the remaining areas. If the public movement is not curtailed and if they do not cooperate with the government, they are risking their lives and those of others,” he said.
He cited other cases, one of an onion seller in Rajendernagar who came in contact with a Nizamuddin Markaz returnee and interacted with 45 others and later tested positive and that of a migrant who travelled in a train with Markaz returnees and was asymptomatic but one of his contacts, his landlady, died.
“We are not sure whether a 14-day quarantine is enough to contain Covid-19. I advise people to quarantine for 28 days even though they have tested negative," Rammohan said.
He said May would be favourable to contain Covid-19 and the arrival of the monsoon in June could complicate the situation as other contagious diseases spread with the rains.
"It is not easy to manage a city with a huge population. The public should abide by the law to contain the deadly virus," he said.
He urged residents to click pictures of those who violate social distancing norms at supermarkets, meat shops and other markets and post them on social media platforms. The corporation would seal all the shops for the lockdown period, he said.
