AMC imposes night curfew in Ahmedabad after a surge in COVID cases

There was a sudden rise in COVID cases after the Diwali in Ahmedabad. Taking immediate action on the situation, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) decides to impose a night curfew between 9 pm and 6 am to curb the sudden spike in coronavirus cases in the capital city of Gujarat. This curfew will come into effect starting Thursday.

Data released by the Gujarat government`s health department puts Ahmedabad`s tally of confirmed cases at over 45,000 to date. This includes over 40,000 recoveries and nearly 2,000 casualties.

There are 12,457 active cases in all of Gujarat, as per the state government`s COVID-19 dashboard last updated on Thursday. This includes 83 patients who are currently on ventilator support. The state of Gujarat has tested 69,78,249 samples for coronavirus to date.

Officials of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation believe that the recent surge in crowds owing to the festive season led to the sudden spike in COVID-19 cases. A report by Ahmedabad Mirror quotes Dr Rajiv Kumar Gupta, the additional chief secretary (forest and environment) who was also given the charge of coronavirus management in Ahmedabad as saying that masks and social distancing were neglected in the city in recent weeks.

Ahmedabad has over 2,800 vacant beds which account for 40 per cent of the city`s total number of beds. The city of Ahmedabad is also using 900 mobile medical vans and 550 corona Sanjivanivan vans along with 150 Danvantri Mobile Medican vans, as many as 100 vans of the `104 fever help` and another 100 Vadil Sukhakari yojna vans to check the spread of coronavirus in the city.

In addition, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has set up 200 centres across the city where people can get tested for free.