No Andhra Pradesh RTC services on Sunday as part of Janata Curfew

Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], Mar 21 : Andhra Pradesh Transport Minister Perni Venkataramaiah on Saturday said that AP Road Transport Corporation (RTC) buses will not operate on Sunday in observance of the Janata Curfew called against COVID-19.

"The government has decided to halt all RTC services on Sunday (tomorrow) as part of the implementation of Janata Curfew. All the RTC buses will be confined to depots from tomorrow morning up to the night. Long-distance services will be stopped from tonight itself," Venkataramaiah told media persons here.

"All the services will be restarted from tomorrow night. We appeal to private services also to stop running buses. The government has taken this decision in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus and in accordance with the call given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for Janata Curfew. We appeal to the passengers to cooperate," he added.

Minister Venkatramaiah further said: "Tamil Nadu government has already stopped the transport of private vehicles as part of measures to prevent corona spread. Only RTC vehicles are being allowed. In this wake, all those people who travel from Andhra to Tamil Nadu, it is better to stop their journeys."

"In case they want to go anyway, they should leave their vehicles at AP - TN borders, get screen-tested and go further in the vehicles of TN government," he added.

Union Health Ministry on Saturday said that a total of 283 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the country. Out of the total number, four people have died and 22 others have recovered.

( With inputs from ANI )