Taj Mahal & other monuments in Agra to remain shut amidst surge in COVID-19 cases

Agra's historical monuments like Taj Mahal, Agra Fort, Akbar tomb and others will continue to remain closed until further orders, in the view of the current COVID-19 situation. According to District Magistrate of Agra, Prabhu N Singh, these monuments fall in 'buffer zone' areas; hence, it will not be opened to the public despite being closed for three months.

The District Magistrate further informed that 55 new coronavirus cases were reported in the past four days and there are 71 containment zones. He added that there is a threat of coronavirus spread as tourists will come to these places if they are opened.

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On Saturday Union Minister of Tourism and Culture Prahlad Singh Patel had announced that all monuments can be reopened with complete precautions from July 6 onwards, amid relaxations in the COVID-19 lockdown. All Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protected monuments were closed for around three months due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. 

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COVID-19 situation in Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest single-day jump of 1,153 coronavirus cases on Sunday, pushing the infection tally to 27,707, while the death count in the state reached 785 with 12 fresh fatalities, officials said. A total of 18,761 COVID-19 patients have recovered and discharged from hospitals, Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Information) Awanish Awasthi said. There are now 8,161 active cases in the state, he added. As many as 29,117 samples were tested for coronavirus on Saturday, Awasthi said.

In Lucknow, samples were tested at King George Medical University and Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences. Tests were also done at Institute of Medical Sciences - Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College in Meerut, Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur, Moti Lal Nehru Medical College in Prayagraj, RML hospital in Lucknow, National Institute of Biologicals in Noida and Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical College in Kanpur, he said.

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(With inputs from ANI) (Image -ANI)