No lockdown in Gujarat; people need to follow Covid-19 guidelines: CM Rupani
Addressing the state through video conferencing, Rupani said, “We must ensure that no businesses and other forms of employment get affected due to the Covid-19 outbreak. I further urge people to not pay attention to any rumours related to the disease.”
Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani said on Sunday that no lockdown will be imposed in the state, adding that people will have to adhere to all coronavirus disease (Covid-19) related guidelines such as wearing masks, sanitising hand and maintaining social distancing in order to curb the spread of the outbreak.
Addressing the state through video conferencing, Rupani said, “We must ensure that no businesses and other forms of employment get affected due to the Covid-19 outbreak. I further urge people to not pay attention to any rumours related to the disease.” The chief minister himself had tested positive for the disease on February 15, a day after he fainted on stage while addressing a rally in Vadodara. His results came negative a week later on February 21.
Gujarat has so far logged 2,85,429 Covid disease cases of which 4,443 people have died and 2,74,249 recovered. On Saturday, the state saw 1,565 fresh cases - the highest single day spike of 2021 - along with six more deaths. The last time these many cases were seen was four months back in late November, 2020. While on Friday 1,415 cases were recorded - the highest in nearly three months. According to the Union health ministry, Gujarat along with Maharashtra, Kerala, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka accounted for over 83 per cent of the fresh cases across India on Sunday.
Night curfew has already been imposed in Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and Ahmedabad till March 31. These four districts are the worst hit and are adding the most number of cases towards Gujarat's daily case count. Schools in all these districts have also been closed till April 10 and students will be required to attend online classes.
With the festival of Holi just one week away, the Gujarat government said on Sunday that no permission would be given for celebrations but ‘Holika Dahan’ can take place with crowd restrictions. State’s deputy chief minister and health minister Nitin Patel told news agency PTI that people will not be permitted to gather and throw colours at each and action will be taken against violators. “However, I believe the people of Gujarat will follow rules and will not play Holi,” Patel added.
Meanwhile, a total of 39 students of a hostel in the state’s Sabarkantha district were detected infected with Covid-19 on Sunday, a senior health official told PTI adding that the majority of them are asymptomatic and have been taken home by their parents while some are hospitalised. The cases came into light after tests were conducted on 292 students of a hostel operated by the Sahyog Kushtha Yagna Trust, the official said.
