The Rajasthan government on Saturday imposed night curfew, between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m., in eight cities with the highest COVID-19 infection and raised the penalty for not wearing face mask at public places from ₹200 to ₹500, after a record 3,007 positive cases were detected on a single day across the State.
The district headquarters where the night curfew was clamped were Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Bikaner, Udaipur, Ajmer, Alwar and Bhilwara. Markets, restaurants, shopping malls and other commercial establishments in the urban areas of these districts will be allowed to remain open till 7 p.m.
The decisions were taken at an urgent meeting of the Council of Ministers convened here late in the night in view of the virus infection spreading fast during the festive season and the cold weather conditions. Over 550 positive cases were reported on Saturday in Jaipur, followed by 444 in Jodhpur, 215 in Bikaner and 210 in Ajmer.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot presided over the meeting, while the Ministers who were out of the State Capital attended it through video-conferencing. Mr. Gehlot said the preventive steps were the need of the hour and several States were taking stringent measures and had withdrawn the decisions to open schools and allow public gatherings.
Senior officers of the Medical and Health Department informed the meeting that the gatherings during Deepavali, recent municipal elections and wedding ceremonies had contributed to the increase in positive cases. The number of patients had registered a sharp rise in the eight critical districts, while the winter season would aggravate the situation in the months to come.
Mr. Gehlot said the presence of employees in all government and private offices, where the staff strength was more than 100, would be restricted to 75% in the eight districts, while a maximum of 100 persons would be allowed to attend wedding ceremonies, social events, political rallies and religious gatherings.
A decision was taken in principle to acquire the hospitals attached to private medical colleges for establishing the dedicated COVID-19 health facilities. Besides, the day-care treatment facilities will be available in all private hospitals at the government-approved rates for the patients with less serious symptoms.
