Lucknow : The Yogi Adityanath government of Uttar Pradesh has made it mandatory for “every person” living in hotspot zones to download the Arogya Setu app as Lockdown 3.0 begins from Monday.
Awanish Awasthi, home secretary, told media on Sunday, “Each person in each family in the hotspot will have to download the app compulsorily. It aims for surveillance management of the hotspot. District administration, police and health staff which check and ensure that all download it. Those who can’t do it will be provided assistance.”
The country has been divided into three zones — Red, Orange and Green — based on coronavirus risk-profiling. Uttar Pradesh with 75 districts currently has 19 red, 36 orange and 20 green zone districts.
The red zone districts include large and highly populated cities like Noida, Agra, Meerut, Ghaziabad, Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi with several hotspots in each district. This essentially covers almost half the UP’s 22 crore population.
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Notably, cyber security experts and opposition leaders have raised privacy and data security issues associated with the app making many people apprehensive about it.
Meanwhile, all standalone shops including liquor shops in UP will open from Monday. All government and private offices can start work with 33 per cent staff.
However, standalone liquor shops will be allowed to open with certain conditions in all zones, barring containment areas, in standalone shops, not in markets or malls. The liquor shops will remain open from 10 am to 7 pm, announced the Yogi government on Sunday. Authorities also clarified alcohol sale will not be permitted at hotels and restaurants.
“All necessary measures will be taken to ensure social distancing is followed. Only five people will be allowed to buy liquor from a liquor shop at one time,” say officials.
All religious events, cinema hall, multiplexes, sports and shopping centres will remain banned. However, industries will function as earlier with all restrictions as stipulated at the beginning of second phase of lockdown. “Working hours of employees can be increased for three months if owners and employees agree,” says Awasthi.
Lucknow Covid hotspots named after mosques
Yogi govt drew flak for ‘communalising’ illness for naming 8 of the 18 virus hotspots in Lucknow after mosques, raising concern among Muslims in those areas and criticism from opposition parties for allegedly adding communal colour to an illness. The administration has refuted claims, claiming the mosques were only named due to the presence of positive cases.
