Night curfew extended till Feb 15 in these 4 Gujarat cities

Authorities in Gujarat have extended the night curfew in four major cities of the state to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), reports said on Saturday. However, the duration of the curfew has been curtailed by an hour in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot.

The night curfew was imposed in these four cities following a spike in the cases of the coronavirus disease after Diwali in November last year. Authorities had later announced that the night curfew would continue till January 31 but had cut the timing of the curfew by an hour to 10 pm and 6 am.

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“Starting February, Gujarat will strictly follow till February 28 the COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on January 27. The night curfew would continue to be in force in four metros of the state – Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot and Surat. But it would now be between 11pm to 6am till February 15,” Pankaj Kumar, the additional chief secretary (home) said.

Kumar said the state has succeeded in improving the Covid-19 recovery rate to 96.94%, according to sources. “But there is a need to remain cautious, vigilant and adhere to the prescribed containment strategy to prevent and completely eradicate the Covid-19 transmission,” he said.

All the activities outside of containment zones will continue according to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by various central and state governments’ departments, he added. Kumar also said that activities related to weddings, large gatherings, places of worship, malls, restaurants, hotels, cinema halls, swimming pools, gymnasiums, exhibition, passenger movement by train, air travel, Metro train, schools, institutions of higher learning, yoga centres, gymnasiums, etc will have to be conducted in strict adherence to the SOPs.