Night curfew to continue in 36 cities of Gujarat until May 28, restrictions enforced for 7 days

Night curfew will be enforced in 36 cities of Gujarat from 8 pm to 6 am till May 28. Curfew and restrictions will be enforced for seven more days in the state. During the restriction period, all essential services will continue to function.

ANI photo

New Delhi: The Gujarat government on Thursday (May 20) announced that night curfew will be enforced in at least 36 cities in the state and will remain in place until May 28. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani stated that the night curfew will remain enforced from 8 pm to 6 am. "The curfew and restrictions will be enforced for 7 more days. All essential services will continue during these restrictions," a government release said. 

However, daytime restrictions were relaxed and shops, shopping malls, business establishments and other business activities were allowed between 9 am to 3 pm. These 36 urban areas include Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot cities.

"However, as the cases are decreasing across the state, the government has decided to offer some relaxation in day-time restrictions. All shops, shopping malls, restaurants, roadside vendors, shopping complexes, hair cutting salons, beauty parlours and other business activities can be conducted from 9 am to 6 pm," a government release said.

All shops, schools and colleges, and religious places were banned in Gujarat till now

Earlier, all shops barring those selling essential items and medicines were not allowed to open, while offices were allowed to operate at 50 per cent capacity. Schools, colleges, tuition classes, multiplexes, auditoriums, public parks, assembly halls, spas, gyms and all entertainment places will remain closed till May 28. Social, religious, political or educational gatherings will remain prohibited. At weddings, number of guests can not exceed 50, while at funerals a maximum of 20 people will be allowed.

At weddings, number of guests can not exceed 50, while at funerals a maximum of 20 people will be allowed. Public transport will be allowed at 50 per cent of the vehicle capacity. All religious places will be closed for public, but priests can perform rituals.

Gujarat notifies black fungus as pandemic

The announcement from Chief Minister Rupani comes hours after the government of Gujarat declared black fungus infection an epidemic. The core committee headed by Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani held a meeting on Thursday where it was decided to declare the fungal infection an epidemic under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.

Accordingly, all medical facilities in the state will have to report all suspected and confirmed cases of post-Covid complication to the state's health department. All government and private health facilities, medical colleges will follow the guidelines for screening, diagnosis and management of mucormycosis, issued by the Union Health Miistry and the ICMR.

According to the notification, it will be mandatory for all the healthcare facilities to report all suspected and confirmed cases of black fungus to the health department through district-level chief medical officers and subsequently to the surveillance system of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).

Meanwhile, Gujarat reported 4,773 COVID-19 cases and 64 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking its tally to 7,76,220 and fatality count to 9,404, the health department said on Thursday (May 20). The state has been witnessing a drop in coronavirus cases over the last one week. From a little over 8,000 cases that were reported in the state on May 16, the daily case count has now come down below the 5,000-mark.

As many as 8,308 patients got discharge from hospitals during the day, which pushed the recovery count to 6,77,798 and the recovery rate to 87.32 per cent.

(With PTI inputs)