Shops close state-wide as Haryana goes into full lockdown

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
May 3, 2021

On May 3, Haryana went into a state-wide lockdown, seeing non-essential stores including clothing and beauty outlets close their doors for a week. 

 
“From May 3, there will be a seven-day long lockdown in the entire state,” tweeted Haryana's Home and Health Minister Anil Vij. The Haryana government announced the lockdown on Sunday, effective Monday. 
 
The state had previously enforced a weekend curfew in nine of its districts: Gurugram, Faridabad, Panchkula, Sonipat, Rohtak, Karnal, Hisar, Sirsa, and Fatehabad, the Press Trust of India reported.

The curfew was designed to curb weekend shopping and crowds but was deemed to be insufficient to combat the swiftly rising coronavirus cases in the area, even when paired with a daily night curfew. 
 
On May 1, Haryana reported 125 Covid-19 related deaths taking its death toll to 4,341. The state also registered 13,588 new cases on Saturday, pushing the total positive cases to over five lakh. Like many areas, the state is experiencing shortage of medical supplies including oxygen as cases continue to mount. 
 
“The situation in Haryana is worse than that of Delhi,” said opposition party INLD leader Abhay Singh Chautala before the lockdown announcement.

“There is no bed available in the hospitals, there is a shortage of oxygen. This government does not have any right to stay in power.”