The Gujarat government on Thursday imposed additional restrictions, including shutting down of schools and colleges, cancelling exams scheduled for college students and also shutting down malls/ shopping plazas and multiplexes on the weekends amidst rising COVID-19 cases in the second wave.
The State on Thursday recorded 1,276 cases and three deaths as the second wave of pandemic has struck, with alarming numbers of new infections in cities like Ahmedabad and Surat.
In Ahmedabad and Surat, the civic bodies have also increased the timing of night curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. while public transport bus services have been halted and all public parks, gardens and gyms have been shut in order to prevent people from gathering as the infection is surging.
“All schools and colleges in eight municipal cities have been shut from March 19 to April 10. Even exams have been cancelled,” said Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama.
The decision to shut the schools and colleges was taken at a high level meeting Chief Minister Vijay Rupani held with top bureaucrats to gear up the administration to deal with rising cases.
Also, the university examinations for undergraduate and graduate levels, scheduled between March 19 and April 10 will stand suspended and the new dates for the examination will be announced by the universities.
For the postgraduate students, the examinations, off-line classes and practical will continue to be conducted offline across the State.
The State government has deputed top officials to oversee COVID-19 related efforts by the civic bodies in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot where tests have been increased to isolate people carrying the virus.
Meanwhile, as per the State Health Department data on the vaccination front, 24,13,350 people have been given first dose and 5,67,671 persons have been given second dose of vaccines in the State.
