VARANASI: Amid a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh, the Varanasi district administration has made it mandatory to present a negative RT-PCR test report for people coming to three prominent temples in Varanasi, Divisional Commissioner Deepak Agrawal said on Wednesday.
These temples are Vishwanath Temple, Sankatmochan Temple, and Annapurna Temple, said Agrawal.
He further stated that the same order shall also be implemented in the city's hotels as well.
Speaking to ANI, Agrawal said, "Varanasi district administration has made it mandatory for devotees to produce negative RT-PCR test report not older than three days to enter Vishwanath Temple, Sankatmochan Temple, and Annapurna Temple. We'll implement it for hotels also."
Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh reported the second-highest number of new COVID-19 cases in the country at 17,963 on Wednesday, the Union Health Ministry said.
As per the ministry's statement on Wednesday, the state recorded the third-highest number of COVID deaths in the country at 85.
India reported 2,00,739 new COVID-19 cases, 93,528 discharges and 1,038 deaths in the last 24 hours, said the ministry on Thursday.
The temple town has also urged tourists not to come in April. It has seen a steep rise of 1,266 per cent in Covid cases over the past two weeks.
"We appeal to domestic and international tourists planning to visit Varanasi to cancel their trip this month because of the unprecedented Covid infections," Varanasi District Magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma has said in an advisory.
The district currently has 10,206 active infections, third highest after state capital Lucknow and Prayagraj.
On March 31, the city had recorded 116 new cases in a day and had 550 active cases. Yesterday, the daily rise was at 1,585.
The city has already imposed a night curfew and banned people from ghats along the Ganga between 4 pm and 6 am.