Temple town of Tirupati put under lockdown till August 5

Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, July 21

Andhra Pradesh Government has imposed a complete lockdown in the temple town of Tirupati until August 5 to stem the surge in COVID-19 cases.

The state government said the Chittoor district administration would review the decision after August 5.

The administration has, however, exempted pilgrims proceeding to the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at nearby Tirumala from the lockdown despite the fact that many people connected with Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, which runs the management of the temple, have tested positive for COVID-19.

Srinivasa Murthy Deekshitulu, a former head priest of the temple, died due to coronavirus at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) here on Monday, though he was no longer performing active duty at the temple.

Andhra Pradesh has seen rises of 4,944 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of reported cases in the state to 58,668. Of this, 32,336 are still active.

Out of 5323 cases in Chittoor district, about 1,700 are in the Tirupati corporation area. Grocers have been permitted to open between 6 am and 10 am daily, but all commercial establishments will remain closed during the lockdown, District Collector Bharat Narayan Gupta told reporters here, adding public would be allowed to shop for domestic needs only during the four-hour window.

Medical and milk shops can function throughout the day. Essentials services would be exempted from the purview of lockdown.

The lockdown will come into effect immediately.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa announced his government was not extended lockdown but urged the people in the state to follow COVID-19 guidelines of wearing masks and maintaining physical distance.