Night curfew in 4 Gujarat cities gets another 15-day extension

In view of the recent spike in coronavirus cases, the Gujarat government has decided to extend the night curfew in four major cities of the state, including Ahmedabad, by another 15 days. The ongoing night curfew in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot, was to end on February 28.

An official statement issued on Friday night said, the government decided to extend the night curfew by another 15 days in view of the recent rise in coronavirus cases in four municipal corporations. This is the fifth extension of the night curfew, which first came into force in November last year after a spurt in COVID-19 cases in these cities post-Diwali.

The ongoing night curfew starts at midnight and ends at 6 am. Although the statement about the extended night curfew does not mention the time, the existing schedule is likely to continue. In view of increasing COVID-19 cases, the government has decided to expedite the vaccination drive, the statement said.

The statement was issued following a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday evening to review the coronavirus situation in Gujarat. In the first phase of COVID-19 vaccination, out of the total 4.82 lakh health care workers, more than 4.07 lakh (or 84 percent) have been administered the first dose of the vaccine, the statement said.

Also, out of the total 5.41 lakh frontline workers, 4.14 lakh (or 77 percent) have been covered in the drive so far. The second dose of COVID-19 vaccine has been given to 1.23 lakh healthcare workers till now, it said. The health department claimed that Gujarat ranks first in the country in terms of vaccination per million population. The state has so far received 15.70 lakh doses of Covishield, and 4.83 lakh Covaxin. The vaccination drive for senior citizens and those with co-morbidities will begin from March 1 as per the Centre’s instructions, it said.

Gujarat has so far reported 2,69,031 COVID-19 cases, out of which 2,62,487 patients have recovered. On Friday, it reported 460 new cases.