Goa imposes night curfew from 11 pm to 6 am, shuts down schools, colleges till Jan 26

As Goa witnessed a jump in daily COVID-19 cases post-New Year celebrations and a positivity rate of 10.7%, the Goa government's task force for Covid management has imposed a night curfew and a slew of measures on Monday. Earlier in the day, Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant also announced that physical classes for schools and colleges will remain closed till January 26 in view of a surge in Covid cases in the coastal state.

The night curfew will be imposed from 11 pm and will continue till 6 am in the morning. After a meeting of the state government's task force on Covid management, Dr. Shekhar Salkar, a member of the state's COVID Task Force said on Monday, "Schools and colleges will be closed in Goa till January 26 in view of the rising Covid cases. Classes will be conducted online during the period. The task force is chaired by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.

Salkar also said that while offline classes will not be conducted in schools and colleges, students who are eligible for vaccination will be inoculated in school premises over the next few days, after which they are not required to visit their respective schools until January 26.

"The task force will meet again to review the situation a couple of days before January 26, to take a decision on the future course of action.

Salkar also said that the infection rate in the coastal state had crossed an average of 5 per cent, which was the reason why the task force had decided to shut down schools and impose a night curfew.