JAIPUR: The
state government on Wednesday announced a 6pm to 5am daily curfew across the state from Friday as part of a series of measures to combat rising
Covid cases. The curfew will be in effect till the end of the month.
To ensure that the curfew comes into force from 6pm sharp, shops and business establishments have been asked to down shutters at 5pm.
All government offices, except Covid control and war rooms, have to shut at 4pm. Private offices have also been advised to close at the same time.
In rural areas, shops and businesses have to close at 8pm. Quoting health experts, the government said the second wave was more dangerous and aggressive. If the spread was mainly confined to urban areas in the first wave, this time around 30% of the cases were reported from rural areas and 60% infections were among people below the age of 45.
The government said the positivity and mortality were much higher in the first 10 days of April than during the peak of the first wave (September-October 2020).
Chief minister Ashok Gehlot, while chairing a meeting of political and religious leaders and NGOs on Wednesday, said with around 6,000 positive cases per day and more than 161 deaths in April alone, it is clear that this phase of infection is more fatal and contagious.
Gehlot instructed doctors to conduct a comparative study of infectivity, disease severity and deaths in the first and second wave with an aim of formulating a strategy to contain the spread.
The government said only those involved in essential services should venture out of their homes.
However, the government continued with the previous exemptions given to factories, IT companies, bus stands, railways stations, marriage functions and medical shops.