Varanasi, April 15: The Varanasi district administration has issued an advisory urging domestic and foreign tourists to cancel their trip to the temple town in April in view of the rising coronavirus (COVID-19) cases. Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has the third-highest number of active COVID-19 patients in Uttar Pradesh. The temple city is one of most popular destinations for tourists and devotees in the state. Uttar Pradesh Reports Highest Single-Day Rise of 20,510 New COVID-19 Cases in Past 24 Hours, State Tally Rises to 7,44,021.

"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 said in the advisory. The Varanasi district administration has also made it mandatory to present a negative RT-PCR test report for people coming to three prominent temples and hotels in the town.

"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," Divisional Commissioner Deepak Agrawal told news agency ANI. The administration has already imposed night curfew between 4 pm and 6 am, and banned people from ghats along the Ganga during the period.

Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday registered 20,510 fresh COVID-19 cases, its highest single-day numbers that pushed the state's infection count to 7,44,021. Amid a spike in cases, the Allahabad High Court has directed the Uttar Pradesh government to look into the viability of complete lockdown in districts largely affected by the pandemic.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 15, 2021 11:34 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).