AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat government has announced a series of new restrictions following a sudden spike in Covid-19 cases in the state.
According to the official announcement, the night curfew will be imposed in 27 cities from 10 pm to 6 am from Friday. Home delivery by hotels and restaurants can now be continued for 24 hours.
According to new guidelines, the night curfew will be effective from 10 pm to 6 am in the top 10 cities plus the new 17 cities. These cities are Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Gandhinagar, Anand, Nadiad, Surendranagar, Dhrangradhra, Morbi, Wankaner, Dhoraji, Gondal, Jetpur, Kalawad, Godhra, Vijalpor (Navsari), Navsari, Bilimora, Vyara, Vapi, Valsad, Bharuch, and Ankleshwar.
Shops and commercial complexes can remain open till 10 pm. Hotels and restaurants will operate with 75% capacity. Political, social, educational, cultural, and religious gatherings will be permitted for a maximum of 150 persons in open and at 50% capacity in closed doors.
While a maximum of 150 persons will be allowed in wedding functions, 100 persons will be allowed in burial services. Public and private transport will be exempted from night curfew with 75% capacity. However, cinema halls, multiplexes, gyms, swimming pools, and auditoria will be allowed to operate with 50 percent capacity.
Gujarat reported 21,225 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, a drop from its all-time high recorded a day ago, taking the tally to 10,22,788, while 16 more patients succumbed to the infection, the state health department said.
The tally was lower than the all-time high of 24,485 cases reported on Thursday but still the second highest spike since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020.
A total of 16 COVID-19 patients died during the day - eight in Ahmedabad, two in Vadodara, four in Surat, one each in Kheda and Bhavnagar -- increasing the tally of fatalities to 10,215, said the department in a release.
The state's tally of active cases rose further to 1,16,843 after crossing the 1-lakh mark a day ago.
The number of patients discharged in the last 24 hours stood at 9,245, pushing up the tally of recovered cases to 8,95,730, the release said.
District-wise, Ahmedabad reported 8,804 fresh cases, Vadodara 2,841, Surat 2,576, Rajkot 1,754, and Gandhinagar 815 cases, among others.
As many as 2.10 lakh people were vaccinated against COVID-19 on Friday, increasing the number of doses administered so far in the state to 9.60 crore, said the release.
The Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu reported 31 new cases and 34 recoveries.
With this, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the UT rose to 11,161, and recovered cases to 10,905, officials said.
There are now 252 active cases in the UT, which has reported four deaths so far, officials said.
Gujarat's COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 10,22,788, new cases 21,225, death toll 10,215, discharged 8,95,730, active cases 1,16,843, people tested so far - figures not released.
(With PTI Inputs)