Rajasthan imposes fresh curbs in view of rising Covid cases

After a sudden surge in the corona and Omicron positive cases in the state, the Ashok Gehlot government of Rajasthan is dealing with the situation with an iron hand.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot who himself has been infected with Corona for the second time held a high-level meeting on Sunday after the state reported over 5000 new cases. Of a total of 5660 new cases reported on Sunday, 2377 cases were reported from Jaipur alone with one death.

Chief Minister announced the closure of all offline classes for schools till January 30 and a strict night curfew from 11 pm to 5 am. The fresh guideline will be effective from Tuesday. While the offline classes in schools will be closed till January 30, universities and colleges will continue offline classes with 50 per cent attendance on a rotational basis.

All international travelers will have to undergo a mandatory seven-day home quarantine and RTPCR test on the eighth days. People landing in Rajasthan from the domestic flight will have to show double-dose vaccination certificates.

After Gehlot made a strong plea to the Prime Minister for vaccinating the youngsters, Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a high-level meeting in Delhi on Sunday called for vaccination of the youth across the country. The Prime Minister stressed the need for accelerating Covid vaccination among adolescents on a “ mission mode”. Thus, several crores of youngsters in the age –group of 15 to 17 years will be covered under the vaccination programme and would be provided with the first dose.

Gehlot championed this cause by pressurising the Prime Minister and this has resulted in a positive response.

Three days after Chief Minister Gehlot tested positive, 27 staff members of the Chief Minister’s Residence (CMR) on Sunday were found to be Corona positive. Those who contracted the virus include his driver and the Chief Minister’s officer-on-special-duty Shashikant Sharma. All the 96 personnel connected with the Chief Minister’s staff have undergone Corona test. The Chief Minister is in quarantine but has been holding regular meetings through a glass chamber. He would also chair a meeting of the disaster management committee of the state government regarding the assessment of crop damage due to rainstorms and cold waves in the state.

Under the new guidelines that would be effective from Tuesday, all the district Collectors have been directed to set up barricades on the inter-state borders to check vaccine certificates and Covid negative reports of all passengers.

Now only 100 persons would be allowed for weddings in rural areas and 50 persons in urban areas. It would be mandatory for all to inform the district administration on the marriage celebrations and it would be mandatory for all to conduct a videography of the marriages and submit a copy of the videography to the district administration.

Not more than 20 persons would be allowed to participate in the last rites of a person. The curfew will be imposed in the cities and all the shops would be closed by 8 pm. However, restaurants will be allowed to serve food till 10 pm with a 50 per cent capacity.

All religious places will be allowed to operate from 5 am to 8 pm and no Prasad or offerings would be allowed.

The state health department started the crucial booster dose for the elderly and people with comorbidities. The precautionary dose is being given after five elderly and two persons under 60 years of age died recently.

Health minister Parsadi Lal Meena said that the Chief Minister has been demanding booster doses for all with comorbidities irrespective of any age group.

The state government is making elaborate arrangements to provide precautionary doses to health workers and frontline workers and those with 60 plus age with comorbidities. Around 24.15 lakh persons who are eligible for the precautionary dose will be provided the dose.

The state is gearing up after the rise in active cases in the past eight days which showed an increase of 30 per cent. In all, about 20,000 active cases have been reported in the state.