West A'bad back to its old ways

Honking on roads as people rush out for purchases and services; pan shops, salons, garages witness queues

If one were to ignore the masks, and the hint of social distancing, the sight of western Ahmedabad on Tuesday reminded more of pre-festival shopping frenzy than a lockdown. People had come out in large numbers to make purchases, with all kinds of shops opening up after the state government's notification for the fourth phase of lockdown.

As per the notification by the state government on Monday, western Ahmedabad, barring the pocket containment area of Gulbai Tekra, was allowed to resume several operations from Tuesday. As expected, the rush of people was huge. There was constant honking on the roads, and yet vehicles nearly crashed into each other before mindlessly turning away. At several places, pedestrians appeared equally indifferent towards lockdown and traffic rules as they appeared to check out all shops and wondering which one to enter. Social distancing norms were ignored as several places.

Besides the usual grocery stores, queues were seen outside shops that had opened for the first time since the lockdown was first announced in March. Pan shops, salons, roadside barbers, garages and others had a busy day as people kept coming in. There was hardly any shop that had its shutters open and less than four-five persons waiting outside. At grocery shops, staff members were visibly overwhelmed by the rush.

On Monday, the government had said that the eastern part of Ahmedabad, where 10 wards have been declared as containment zones, would have to wait for any kind of relaxation, other than for purchase of essential items.

262 new cases in A'bad

The number of Covid-19 cases in Ahmedabad district rose to 8,945 with 262 patients coming to light on Tuesday, while 21 patients died, taking the death toll to 576, the Gujarat health department said. 182 patients were discharged from Ahmedabad hospitals.

One death each was reported from Jodhpur, Vasna, Naranpura, Gota. Meanwhile, a head nurse of Ahmedabad civil hospital died on Tuesday while being treated for COVID-19. She contracted the virus a few days back while on duty in the COVID-19 ward of the civil hospital, said a statement from Gujarat Health Department. Over 2 lakh home deliveries were reported in Ahmedabad in the last four days after home deliveries were allowed with mandatory digital payment.

Guj crosses 12k-mark

Gujarat on Tuesday reported 395 fresh cases and 25 deaths, taking the overall case count to 12,141 and the number of fatalities to 719, a Health department official said.

Besides Ahmedabad, two deaths were reported from Surat while one fatality each was reported from Aravalli and Gandhinagar, the official said.

A total of 239 patients were discharged from hospitals, taking the total number of the recovered patients to 5,043, the official said, adding that the state has 6,379 active cases, 49 of them in a critical condition. A total of 1,54,674 samples have been tested so far in Gujarat, including 5,865 samples in the last 24 hours, said Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi.

Fresh cases were reported from 21 districts, including Surat (29), Kutch (21) and Vadodara (18), Ravi said, adding that count in Surat and Vadodara stands at 1,156 and 700, respectively. The districts with high number of coronavirus cases, apart from Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara, are Gandhinagar (190), Bhavnagar (114), Banaskantha (86), Anand (83), Rajkot (82), Aravalli (82), Mehsana (80), and Panchmahal (71).

Over 31 lakh in containment zones in state

The state government on Tuesday said that more than 31 lakh people fall under containment zones across the state, including 13 lakh in Ahmedabad, over 9 lakh in Surat, and over one lakh each in Gir Somnath and Mahisagar districts.

Strict enforcement of curfew at night: DGP

There will be strict enforcement of curfew between 7 pm and 7 am, Gujarat DGP Shivanand Jha said on Tuesday, adding that all services would remain closed during the period. "Constant patrolling and checking will be carried out during the period to ensure that people stay at home during this period," he said. "The police will ensure that only two persons travel in rickshaws or private vehicles where they have permission to ply," Jha said.

Enjoy freedom, but follow rules: CP

While talking about the relaxations for western part of the city outside containment zones, Ahmedabad police commissioner Bhatia said, "Factories other than those in the containment areas are allowed to operate between 8 am and 4 pm, both in western and eastern parts." He added, "Relaxations have been given and people should enjoy them, but at the same time they must follow the rules. If it is seen that the situation is worsening, there are chances that the relaxations may be withdrawn."

Inputs from Ancela Jamindar, Ojas Mehta, Asik Brahmbhatt