Gujarat records over 5,000 Covid cases; schools shut for classes 1 to 9

The novel coronavirus cases in Gujarat continue to increase rapidly with 5,396 cases reported in the past 24 hours. This is the highest single-day count this year in what is said to be the third wave of the global pandemic.

The number of active cases in the state jumped from 3,927 on January 1 to a whopping 18,583 on Friday.

The rising cases forced the state government to impose further restrictions. The state government announced the closure of schools from class 1 to 9 till January 31 with immediate effect. The higher education institutes will be functional by covid-19 protocols, the state government said.

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The government also increased the night curfew timing from 11 pm to 6 pm to 10 pm to 6 am in eight major cities, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot, Bhanagar, Jamnagar, Junagadh and Gandhinagar. Night curfew was also extended to two new cities — Anand and Nadiad city — on Friday.

According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of the central government, between December 31 and January 6, the test positivity rate in Ahmedabad was 13.80%, one of the highest numbers in the country. The city reported 2,281 cases on Friday, another highest single-day figure this year. The other worst affected cities are Surat, which reported 1,350, Vadodara 239 and Rajkot, 203 cases.

Meanwhile, the Gujarat high court discontinued physical hearings citing the rising cases. The high court also ordered the lower judiciary in the state "to function in virtual mode only through video conference till further orders to conduct all types of matters..."

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