Gujarat: No physical classes in schools upto Class 9; night curfew time extended in 10 cities

AHMEDABAD: Amid rising coronavirus cases, the Gujarat government on Friday extended the night curfew time in 10 cities by two hours. There would be no in-person classes at school for students of Std first to ninth till January 31, it announced.

Gujarat recorded 5,396 new cases of coronavirus since Thursday evening, as per the health department. To curb further spread of the infection, the government has asked schools to stop offline education for Classes 1 to 9 till January 31 and continue with only online lessons. Coaching centres for students of Class 9 upwards and those for post-graduate courses as well as competitive exams can run with 50 per cent capacity, the official release stated.

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Night curfew is already in force in eight major cities - Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar and Junagadh. The time of the curfew was 11 pm to 5 am. Now it will be from 10 pm to 6 am. Further, the night curfew will be implemented in Anand and Nadiad cities too. People who are part of emergency services, pregnant women, patients and their attendants and those traveling to catch flights, buses and trains will be allowed to commute during night curfew. All others are barred from venturing out in these 10 cities from 10 pm to 6 am. Shops and other commercial establishments in these cities can operate till 10 pm, while home delivery of food is allowed till 11 pm.

Across the state, sports complexes and stadiums are permitted to organise sports events without spectators, while cinema halls, gymnasiums, water parks, swimming pools, libraries, auditoriums can operate with 50 per cent capacity. People associated with such commercial activities, including owners and employees, must be fully vaccinated, the government has said. Public gardens in the state will be shut after 10 pm.

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The new guidelines mandate that not more than 400 persons are allowed to attend social, religious, educational, political or cultural events including weddings, while for funerals and last rites, the limit has been set at 100. Meanwhile, following representations made by lawyers, the Gujarat High Court on Friday decided to stop physical hearings. Starting Monday (January 10), the high court will "function in the virtual mode only through video-conferencing till further orders," said a circular.