The District Magistrate said those visiting the temples should have a negative RT-PCR test report for entry.
Due to the sudden spike in Covid cases, the District Magistrate of Varanasi has appealed to the tourists to cancel their April trip to the district "because of the unprecedented Covid infections." Reportedly, Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi district has 10,206 active infections which is highest after the state capital Lucknow and Prayagraj.
District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma issued an advisory and said, "We appeal to domestic and international tourists planning to visit Varanasi to cancel their trip this month because of the unprecedented Covid infections." Mr Sharma said it is mandatory for those visiting the famous Kashi-Vishwanath temple to show a negative RT-PCR test report before entering the temple and visitors stopping over will also need to do the same.
On March 31, the temple city had recorded 116 new cases in a day and had 550 active cases whereas yesterday, the city recorded a daily rise of 1,585. Varanasi District Commissioner Deepak Aggarwal said Covid negative RT-PCR test report is mandatory for entry to the Kashi-Vishwanath, Sankatmochan and Annapurna temples which should not be more than 3 days old. The city is already following the night curfew norms and people are banned to go to ghats along the Ganga between 4 pm and 6 am.
The Brief. Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now.