Jharkhand government on Tuesday announced a state-wide lockdown from April 22 to 29, reported ANI. The decision has been taken amid a massive surge in COVID-19 cases, with the country reporting more than 250,000 daily cases for the past several days. 

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Some exemptions will be granted during the lockdown period, such as essential services will be allowed and religious places will remain open, however, the gathering of devotees will not be allowed. Also, mining, agriculture and construction activities will be allowed to function.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren has urged the people to follow all the rules during this period and observe it as ‘Swasthya suraksha saptah’ (health protection week).

On Monday, Jharkhand recorded 3,992 new COVID-19 cases that took the state’s tally to 1,62,945, as per the health department’s bulletin. 50 people died of the disease in the past 24 hours. 

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Meanwhile, India on Monday recorded 259,170 cases, while 1,761 people died of the disease. This took the country’s total tally to reach 15,321,089, along with 180,530 deaths.

Several states have imposed varying degrees of restrictions to rein in the aggressive second wave of COVID-19. While Maharashtra has imposed a strict curfew, Delhi has placed its residents under lockdown till April 26. Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan are among the states that have announced similar restrictions.