Nighttime curfew in 20 cities of Gujarat from April 7: Chief Minister Vijay Rupani (FILE)
Ahmedabad:
Amid the surge in positive coronavirus cases, the Gujarat government on Tuesday announced an 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew in 20 cities across the state, which will go into effect from Wednesday to April 30.
Earlier today, the Gujarat High Court observed that the COVID-19 situation in the state was getting “out of hand”, and suggested that a curfew or lockdown could be imposed for three to four days to break the chain of infection.
Previously, the curfew was in effect from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the cities of Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot in Gujarat.
The government has also banned political or social gatherings until April 30 and reduced the number of guests who can attend a wedding ceremony.
The decision to impose the nighttime curfew was taken during a meeting of a central group for the coronavirus led by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Principal Secretary PK Mishra also joined the meeting held here overnight.
“The cases of COVID-19 are increasing every day. Interior Minister Amit Shah and PMO Principal Secretary PK Mishra today joined our core group meeting on the coronavirus and guided us,” he said. Rupani said after attending the meeting.
“The High Court made some suggestions to us and we made a decision. Previously, we had imposed a curfew in four major cities in the state. Now, we have decided to implement a nighttime curfew in 20 towns across the state, ”Rupani said. .
He said the timing of the new curfew will be from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Rupani said the Center will send a team of medical experts to Gujarat, which will help the state government design a strategy to stem the increase in cases.
The high-level meeting between senior Gujarat government officials, the Shah and officials in the prime minister’s office took place hours after an HC bench led by Chief Justice Vikram Nath observed that the pandemic situation in the state was getting out of hand.
The bench suggested that a curfew or lockdown could be imposed for three to four days to break the chain of infection.
The cities where the curfew is imposed are Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Jamangar, Bhavnagar, Junagadh, Gandhinagar, Anand, Nadiad, Mehasana, Morbi, Dahod, Patan, Godhra, Bhuj, Gandhidham, Bharuch, Surendranagar and Amreli.
At the same time, given the increase in cases, the state government has reduced the number of people who can attend a wedding ceremony to 100 from 200, the CM said.
“In addition, no political or social gatherings will be allowed in the state before April 30. In any other type of gathering, only 50 people will be allowed,” Rupani said.
He said the areas under the Gandhinagar Municipal Company and the Morva Hadaf Assembly constituency, linked to the ballot, were exempt from the curbs.
Mr Rupani said government offices would remain closed in the state every Saturday and Sunday this month.
The chief minister said the state government has also decided to increase the number of RT-PCR tests.
“Contact tracing will be stepped up to identify those infected. These patients will be isolated so that the chain of infection can be broken. We have decided to strictly enforce restrictions in the micro-containment zones and the aid of the police will be taken “. he added.
Mr Rupani said 70% of the oxygen produced by manufacturers will now be reserved for medical use instead of the previous cap of 60%.
The chief minister also said the number of beds in hospitals was increasing and assured that there was no shortage of beds in the state for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.
Gujarat reported 3,280 positive cases of fresh coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the largest increase in one day, bringing the number of infections to 324,878 while 17 deaths brought the number to 4,598, according to the Department of state health.
(This story was not edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)