Goa will be under night curfew from 10 pm to 6 am till April 30, chief minister Pramod Sawant said in the wake of an unprecedented spike in the number of Covid-19 cases in the state. The 10-day-long night curfew will come into effect from tonight, i.e. Wednesday (April 21).
The government also announced the postponement of the upcoming 10th and 12th standard examinations of the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.
Fresh rules imposed by Goa government-
1. Casinos, bars, restaurants, river cruises, water parks, entertainment parks, cinema theatres, gyms and parlours will be allowed to operate at 50 percent capacity.
2. Public will not be allowed to be on the road during the curfew, Sawant said.
3. Petrol pumps, pharmacies and other essential services will remain open during the curfew hours, he said.
4. During the night curfew, only commercial vehicles transporting essential goods would be allowed to ply.
5. The government also announced the postponement of the upcoming 10th and 12th standard examinations of the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education. Sawant said that the board will inform the students 15 days in advance before holding the exams.
6. The chief minister said schools and colleges would be closed except for holding online examinations.
7. Temples, mosques and churches have been barred from organising mass gatherings but they can continue performing rituals with limited people, Sawant said.
8. Wedding functions cannot have more than 50 guests and only up to 20 people can attend funerals.
9. The chief minister said there is no ban on industries and other economic activities.
The curfew and other curbs would be in force till April 30 after which the state government will review the situation and take a call on their extension, he said.
Cases in Goa are on the rise because the state has increased the number of daily tests, the chief minister said on Wednesday, a day after the state logged its highest number of deaths and its daily infection rate peaked at 1,160 in 24 hours.
Sawant also ruled out a lockdown in the state, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself said in his address to the nation on Tuesday that a lockdown ought to be the last option for states.
"The cases are increasing because we are testing more now. Earlier we were testing 2,000, now it is nearly 3,200," Sawant said.
The Chief Minister also said that the death rate due to Covid-19 was increasing in Goa -- 26 persons died from Covid-19 on Wednesday -- because patients were delaying getting themselves admitted to hospitals.
"People are coming in late. They sit in fear at home. They should instead get admitted. We cannot do anything at the last stage," Sawant said. The Chief Minister also said that the second Covid wave is impacting people below 50 years.
Goa reported 694 fresh coronavirus cases and 26 related deaths in the last 24 hours as per Health Ministry's data.
