Marathon 57-hour curfew in Ahmedabad from today, here`s what will remain open

The announcement was made by Additional Chief Secretary Rajiv Kumar Gupta that the decision was taken after a reviewing the coronavirus situation late on Thursday night.

Ahmedabad: In a move to check the alarming rise of novel coronavirus cases in Ahmedabad, authorities decided to impose a “complete curfew” from today (November 20).

The curfew period begins from 9:00 pm of November 20 till the morning of November 23 at 6:00 am. The decision to impose the marathon 57-hour long curfew was taken after a late night review of the coronavirus situation in Ahmedabad.

Additional Chief Secretary (Forest and Environment) Rajiv Kumar Gupta announced on Twitter that during the 'curfew' period, only shops selling milk and medicines shall be permitted to remain open in Ahmedabad. 

Read: Gujarat govt announces major decision on school reopening

"The Corona situation was reviewed late night and it has been decided that “complete curfew”shall be imposed from tomorrow night 9:00 pm till Monday morning 6:00 am in city of Ahmedabad. During this period, only shops selling milk and medicines shall be permitted to remain open," he wrote.

Gupta informed that after the 57-hour curfew ending on Monday morning, there will be a night curfew in Ahmedabad which will remain in force daily between 9 pm and 6 am with effect from Friday (November  20) till further orders.

Gupta was appointed as the Officer on Special Duty by the Gujarat government to oversee Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC)'s coronavirus-related operations.

Notably, Ahmedabad city has been witnessing a steady rise in coronavirus cases since the beginning of November. On Thursday, as many as 230 persons from Ahmedabad were found infected with COVID-19 in the past 24 hours ending at 5 pm, Gujarat health department said.

In a statement issued in the evening, Gupta said though the AMC administration is taking various preventive steps, restriction on people's movement is needed to contain the spread of the viral infection among people. The senior IAS officer said restrictions are needed as people are flocking markets and other places in large numbers, which increases the chances of human-to-human transmission.