Lucknow, April 2 (IANS) The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday extended the closure of Classes 1 to 8 in all schools till April 11, in view of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases.

On March 30, the state government had ordered the closure of schools for students up to Class 8 till April 4.

The Yogi Adityanath government has laid strict instructions to follow the Covid protocols in schools for Classes 9 to 12.

The sudden surge in Covid-19 cases in the state has caused a panic situation among the people.

During the meeting on Friday, Adityanath said the RT-PCR testing should be compulsorily done in suspected cases of Covid-19.

He also ordered officials concerned to increase the number of tests in the state.

--IANS amita/khz/vd