Daily Covid cases below 5,000, Gujarat opens for business between 9am & 3pm

GANDHINAGAR: After remaining shut for close to a month, commercial establishments providing non-essential items will open between 9 am and 3 pm from Friday in 36 cities and towns of Gujarat. This includes Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot and other 32 cities. However, night curfew will remain in force from 8 pm to 6 am in all 36 cities until May 28.

The decision to allow all commercial establishments to remain for six hours daily was taken by a high level committee chaired by CM Vijay Rupani, even as the daily number of persons testing positive for Covid-19 fell below 5,000 on Thursday. A notification to this effect was issued on Thursday night by the government.
Trade bodies had been making repeated representations to the state government, seeking a relaxation in limited lockdown. Other than those providing essential services, all commercial establishments in 36 cities of Gujarat had been asked to remain shut to prevent further spread of the pandemic.
“All shops, commercial establishments, hand carts, shopping complexes, marketing yards, hair cutting saloons., beauty parlours and other establishments will be allowed to remain functional from 9 am to 3 pm. Restaurants will be allowed to provide takeaway services from 9 am to 8 pm,” the home department notification said.
A maximum of 50 persons will be allowed for wedding ceremonies and people will be required to seek permission on the Digital Gujarat portal. 20 persons will be allowed to attend the final rites of a person. The notification said that all establishments will be allowed to function with not more than 50 % attendance and public bus services will also function with just 50% capacity.
Traders have welcomed the government decision of allowing shops and commercial establishments to reopen. “The decision is exactly in line with our demands to allow shops and establishments to function once again, albeit for a limited period of time. This will breathe life into the retail trade which has remained shut for over three weeks now. We have made an appeal to the traders to adhere to all social distancing and other Covid-protocol related norms in interest of their own and the people's safety," said Jayendra Tanna, president, Gujarat Traders' Federation (GTF).
Dr Devendra Patel, president of Indian Medical Association (IMA) Gujarat Chapter, told TOI that IMA had written a letter to the CM recently, requesting him to extend the restrictions till May 31. "But we understand that the government also faced pressure from trade bodies. The cases have recorded a sharp decline in the past few days, and it is our responsibility now to maintain the low numbers," he said. "We don't have anything against the businesses - but we appeal to the citizens not to venture out without good reason and follow all protocols such as social distancing, double masking and use of sanitizer to reduce the spread."