Hyderabad, May 7 (IANS): The Telangana government on Friday extended night curfew in the state till May 15 and imposed restrictions on gatherings to check the spread of Covid-19.

Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar issued a Government Order (GO), extending the night curfew by a week. The curfew will be in force from 9 p.m. till 5 a.m. the next day.

The government had, on April 20, imposed the night curfew till April 30 and later extended it by a week.

As the spike in Covid cases continued in several parts of the state, the government decided to extend the night curfew.

The night curfew was extended two days after the Telangana High Court suggested to the government to either impose a week-end lockdown or continue the night curfew.

The state government has already ruled out imposing a lockdown. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday said no lockdown would be imposed as it brings life to a standstill and also leads to total collapse of the economy.

He also stated that lockdown does not help in bringing down the number of Covid cases.

The Chief Secretary issued another GO, imposing restrictions on gatherings. This has been done keeping in view the rise in number of Covid cases across the state and observations of the high court.

The GO has prohibited all social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, religious and cultural gatherings.

It also says the not more than 100 persons should attend marriage related gatherings. The maximum number of persons allowed for last rites is 20. These gatherings should ensure social distancing, wearing of masks and other Covid related protocols.