Telangana lifts COVID lockdown, schools to re-open from July 1

Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], June 19 (ANI): Telangana Cabinet on Saturday decided to lift up the COVID lockdown completely in the state.
The decision had been taken after the health department submitted a report stating that COVID-19 cases are completely under control in the state.
"The Council of Ministers has decided to lift the lockdown completely in the state. The Cabinet has examined the reports submitted by the Medical and Health Department officials that COVID cases and the positivity rate have drastically come down and the COVID-19 situation is under control.
"The Cabinet has sought people's support for its decision of lifting lockdown stating that the decision was taken to protect livelihoods and resume public life. The Cabinet, however, requested the people not to be complacent or negligent and follow guidelines issued by the government," stated the Chief Minister's Office (CMO).
The state cabinet has also decided to reopen schools and other educational institutions from July 1 so that students can attend physical classes.
"The Cabinet has instructed all the Departments to lift the restrictions imposed as part of the lockdown. Exhorted the Education Department to reopen all categories of educational institutions from July 1 with full preparedness and allow the students to attend the classes physically," said the CMO.
The Telangana Government appealed to people to adopt COVID appropriate behaviour including wearing masks, maintaining physical distance and using sanitisers and other self-regulatory methods till the time spread of the coronavirus is curtailed once for all.
The lockdown has been in force in Telanagana since May 12. On June 9, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had extended the COVID lockdown in the state for 10 days.
Telangana on Friday reported 1,417 new COVID cases and 12 deaths, according to the state health department. The new cases pushed the case tally to 6,10,834.
The new fatalities mounted the COVID death toll in Telangana to 3,546. (ANI)