Night curfew extended in 8 Gujarat cities till Dec 10 amid Omicron threat

In the wake of the emergence of the "Omicron" variant of coronavirus, the Gujarat government has extended the night curfew in eight cities of the state by 10 days till December 10, an official said on Tuesday.

The night curfew has been in force in eight cities from 1 am to 5 am since November 1. The curfew timings were reduced by two hours in November for Diwali and Chhath Puja and due to a drop in daily COVID-19 cases.

As per a government notification, the night curfew in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar and Junagadh cities has been extended for 10 more days, from December 1 to December 10.

Commercial establishments such as APMCs, shops and beauty salons, in these cities can operate till 12 am, while restaurants can remain open till midnight with 75 per cent occupancy, and home delivery and take-away services are also permitted till midnight, the release stated.

Cinema halls can function with 100 per cent capacity in the entire state, it was stated.

Social distancing and use of masks must be followed, it added.

Not more than 400 people can attend weddings and religious or political functions in the first 10 days of December, and 100 people can take part in funeral processions, the notification stated.

The state government had earlier stated that people should have taken at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine to work in business establishments or offices, and recommending that those eligible should also take the second dose of the vaccine.

The state government on Saturday made it mandatory for people coming to India from nine at risk countries to undergo RT-PCR test on their arrival at international airports.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday warned that the global risk from the Omicron variant is very high based on the early evidence, saying the mutated coronavirus could lead to surges with severe consequences.

Gujarat has recorded 40 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours, it was stated.