Night curfew imposed in GB Nagar and Ghaziabad till April 17

With Covid-19 cases surging, Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad imposed a curfew from Thursday between 10 pm and 5 am till April 17

With Covid-19 cases surging, Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad imposed a curfew from Thursday between 10 pm and 5 am till April 17.

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Government servants, police, hospital, fire, media houses, fuel stations, bank and insurance, power companies and grocers are among those exempted provided they carry a valid identification card, according to separate but similar orders from both districts. Those travelling to and from airports, railway stations and bus terminals too would be exempted if they produce their travel ticket.

According to the Uttar Pradesh health department’s bulletin released on Thursday, 134 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Gautam Budh Nagar and 108 in Ghaziabad, the highest single-day spike this year for both districts. The total count in Gautam Budh Nagar was 26,821 with a death toll of 93. In Ghaziabad, the tally was 27,809 with 103 deaths.

Educational institutes shut

In-person classes are barred in all government and private educational institutes, except medical, paramedical and nursing institutes, the orders read.

“However, all examinations, including practical tests, shall be held as per schedule and are exempted from this order. There shall be an intensive enforcement of masks and other Covid-19 protocols in public places including the work places, by the police, incident commanders [zonal officer who will ensure containment measures] and departments concerned,” read the order from Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate (DM) Suhas L Y.

Unlike Delhi, the districts will not be issuing e-passes to those who wished to be exempted from the curfew.

“Staff from private companies involved in essential work (such as food delivery) will also be allowed to move during the night if they carry their authentic identification,” said Suhas. “Any violation of this night prohibition order will lead to action under section 188 (disobeying order) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.”

In Ghaziabad, the district gave an extra hour of exemption to restaurants and its employees to take up sanitisation and cleaning. Their curfew will begin from 11 pm.

“With restrictions in place, we hope that we can check the spread of infection,” said Ghaziabad DM Ajay Shankar Prasad.

Experts said the move will have a limited impact and that the focus should be on round-the-clock surveillance and containment measures

Dr Lalit Kant, former epidemiology and communicable diseases head of the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), said, “The move will deter night life, parties, restaurants and even late-night functions. When people know that there are restrictions, they will automatically prefer not to move out. However, the officials should also consider early closure of markets. Further, they have started ascertaining containment zones, there should be restriction on movement of people. Otherwise, there will be no check on spread of infection.”

“Instead of night restrictions, we have been repeating that authorities should focus on enforcement of covid protocol in markets, weekly markets and other public places besides the containment zones. Night restrictions will serve a limited purpose, but enforcement is must during daytime and will have a larger impact. Side by side, there is also a need to increase the vaccination coverage. But many private vaccination centres are already facing short supply of vaccine,” said Dr Ashish Agarwal, president of Indian Medical Association (Ghaziabad).

On April 6, a bench at the Allahabad high court headed by its chief justice issued directions to the state government regarding Covid situation while hearing a public interest litigation.

It said that the state government should examine viability to have night curfew to check late evening and high social gatherings; district administration and police authorities to ensure that there is 100% masking in every district of UP; no overcrowding takes place; adherence to all Covid protocols during the ongoing Panchayat elections and to check the viability of vaccination for one and all and not just citizens above the age of 45 years besides chalking out of a door to door vaccination program.