Gujarat imposes night curfew in 4 cities till March 31 as Covid-19 cases surge

The decision to impose the curfew was taken in the core committee meeting of the state’s coronavirus task force which is headed by chief minister Vijay Rupani.

Gujarat extended the night curfew in four major cities of the state by two hours and said it will be in place till the end of this month in an attempt to stop the rising cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The government said in a statement the curfew will now remain in force in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot between 10pm and 6am from March 17 to March 31. The night curfew was in place in these cities till March 15 but the restrictions on people’s movement were between 12pm to 6am.

Gujarat reported 247 new Covid-19 cases and one death on Sunday. (Reuters)

The government also said that a ‘pre-night curfew’ system will be maintained in these four metros till March 16 from 12pm to 6am. The decision to impose the curfew was taken in the core committee meeting of the state’s coronavirus task force which is headed by chief minister Vijay Rupani. "The state government has decided to impose a curfew from 10 pm to 6 am in view of the increasing cases of coronavirus," the government said in the statement.

Under the new rules, markets, restaurants, shops, malls, showrooms will have to shut down after 10pm. This is the sixth extension of the night curfew, which came into force in November last year after a spike in Covid cases in these cities after Diwali.

On Monday, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation also asked eateries, restaurants and malls in eight wards of the city to close down at 10pm. Commercial establishments in the wards of Jodhpur, Navrangpura, Bodakdev, Gota, Paldi, Thaltej, Maninagar, and Ghatlodia will have to follow these new rules.

Among the major cities, Surat has been reporting the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the state, followed by Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Rajkot. Gujarat reported 890 new Covid-19 cases on Monday which took the state’s tally to 279,097. The recovery count in the state is at 269,955 and the death toll stands at 4,425.