Infections on the rise, Punjab, Gujarat extend night curfew hours

Taking note of the rising number of Covid cases, Punjab and Gujarat have announced the extension of night curfew in their worst-affected areas.

Punjab CM Amarinder Singh on Thursday ordered a two-hour extension of night curfew in nine worst-affected districts and warned that tough measures are likely in the next few days. The curfew will now be from 9pm to 5am, instead of 11pm to 5am, in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, and Ropar, which have been reporting more than100 cases daily. Amarinder’s announcement came as Punjab’s daily cases shot up to 2,387, with 32 deaths on Thursday.

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, too, decided to extend night curfew from 9pm to 6am, instead of 10pm to 6am, from Friday. Malls and cinemas have been ordered shut on Saturdays and Sundays. The state government postponed the UG exams that were to be held offline from March 19 to April 10.