Only night curfew in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot: Vijay Rupani

Ahmedabad, Nov 22: With a 57-hour curfew imposed in Ahmedabad due to a spike in COVID-19 cases coming to an end on Monday morning, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani in a Facebook address on Sunday said there will only be night curfew in four cities, including Ahmedabad, from here on.

In his address, the CM asked public to strictly follow COVID-19 protocols like wearing masks and maintaining social distance when going out during day, and to stay indoors between 9 pm and 6 am in Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and Vadodara.

He said people in other parts of the state should also follow the guidelines strictly and avoid going out in the evenings without any urgent need.

The CM asked the youth to avoid hanging out at paan shops, tea stalls etc, adding that the young tend to recover from the infection quickly but may put elders in the household at risk.

A 57-hour long curfew was imposed in Ahmedabad from Friday night.

Thanking citizens of Ahmedabad for making the curfew a success, Rupani said that starting Monday, only night curfew will be imposed in the city.

'From tomorrow (November 23), only night curfew will be imposed, which began in three cities (Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot) from last (Saturday) night. From tomorrow, there will only be night curfew (in these four cities),' he said.

Rupani said the decision to impose night curfew was taken due to spike in coronavirus cases, adding that there was a rise not just in Ahmedabad but in other cities nationwide after Diwali, and asked people to support the government's efforts fully.

The police will impose a fine of Rs 1,000 for mask violations, the CM reminded the people.

Rupani assured people there were sufficient number of beds in hospitals to tackle rise in infection numbers.

With the addition of 1,495 fresh coronavirus positive cases on Sunday, the state's tally mounted to 1,97,412, as per the health department said.