Gujarat extends COVID night curfew in 4 cities by two hours

The Gujarat government on Tuesday (March 16) announced that it would increase the time span of night curfews in the four cities of Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot, by two hours in view of a surge in COVID-19 cases in the state. The revised timings will be from 10 pm to 6 am from March 17 to March 31.

The curfew timings earlier were from 12 am to 6 am.

The decision was taken on Tuesday in a core committee meeting of the coronavirus task-force headed by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.

“The state government has decided to impose curfew from 10 pm to 6 am in view of the increasing cases of coronavirus,” the government said in the statement.

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While shops, restaurants and malls will stay closed, citizens will not be allowed to commute during the curfew period. However, hospitals, pharmacies and shops selling essential items like milk will stay open. Residents travelling by train or flights will also be allowed to commute.

The Gujarat Cricket Association (GCA) on Monday said the next three T20 matches between India and England will be played without any spectators at the Narendra Modi Stadium here in view of rising cases of coronavirus.

On Monday, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation also asked eateries, restaurants and malls in eight wards of the city to close down at 10 pm.

Gujarat on Monday reported 890 new cases of COVID-19, taking its tally to 2,79,097. Last month, the state was reporting around 200 new cases every day.

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Surat has been reporting the highest number ofCOVID-19 cases in the state, followed by Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Rajkot, as per official data.

(With inputs from agencies)