By PTI
ANAND: An FIR was lodged against a crowd of 100 people, including a deputy sarpanch and her supporters, for allegedly flouting COVID-19 norms by taking part in a victory procession in Kasor village in Gujarat’s Anand district on Saturday, police said.
A road show with some 100 people in attendance was taken out in support of Baluben Parmar after she was elected the deputy sarpanch of Kasor panchayat, a Sojitra police station official said.
Most of the attendees, many of who danced to music along the way, did not have masks on and social distancing norms were also flouted, he said.
Parmar and others have been charged under sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (unlawful, negligent act likely to spread disease dangerous to life) of the Indian Penal Code, and provisions of Epidemic Diseases Act and Disaster Management Act, the informed.
Gujarat recorded 23,150 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, its second highest single-day surge since the outbreak of the pandemic, increasing the tally of confirmed cases to 10,45,938, a state health department official said.
The addition to the tally was higher than the 21,225 recorded a day earlier but lower than the record 24,485 witnessed on Thursday, he pointed out.
For the fourth consecutive day, Gujarat reported over a dozen COVID-19 fatalities, he said.
Fifteen deaths, comprising six in Ahmedabad, four in Surat, three in Bhavnagar and one each in Rajkot and Navsari, took the toll to 10,230, he added.
So far, 9.05,833 people have been discharged post recovery, including 10,103 during the day, leaving the state with 1,29,875 active cases.
Ahmedabad led with 8,332 cases, followed by Vadodara with 3,709 cases, Surat 2,488, and Rajkot 2,021, among other districts, he said.
The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in Gujarat reached 9.62 crore after 1.88 lakh people got jabs on Saturday, a government release said.
Adjoining Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu reported 36 new cases and 37 more recoveries, taking the Union Territory’s tally to 11,096, including four deaths, recovery count to 10,942 and active caseload to 150, a local official said.
Gujarat’s COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 10,45,938, new cases 23,150, death toll 10,230, discharged 9,05,833, active cases 1,29,875, people tested so far – figures not released.
Night curfew is all set to begin in the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday in 17 towns of Gujarat amid the COVID-19 outbreak and police have been asked to implement it with “officer-oriented policing with human approach”, a top official said.
The night curfew, which will be in force from 10pm to 6am, was announced in these towns for the first time by the state government recently, while such curbs are already in place in 10 major cities of the state.
“Police officers, including SPs and Range IGs, have been informed through video conferencing about strict implementation of night curfew in 17 additional towns. They have been asked to enforce it with officer-oriented policing with human approach, involving local police, home guards and GRDs (gram rakshak dal),” State Director General of Police Ashish Bhatia told reporters.
Bhatia said loud speakers have been used and meetings are being held to spread awareness among people about “self implementation” of the night curfew, before police take up its enforcement.
“Police have been taking measures for strict implementation of COVID-19 guidelines, with a fine of Rs 1,000 collected from 97,903 people for not wearing face masks in the last one week. During this period, 3,830 FIRs were registered and 3,206 people arrested for violating social distancing norms. A total of 381 vehicles were seized for night curfew violation,” the DGP said.
He also urged people to compulsorily register online for marriage functions during the ongoing season as well as adhere to the attendance cap of 150 people at such events.
The Gujarat government had on Friday imposed night curfew in 17 more towns with high positivity rates while extending its implementation in 10 cities till January 29.
At present, night curfew is in force in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar, Anand and Nadiad.
The towns that have been added to this list include Surendranagar, Dhrangradhra, Morbi, Wankaner, Dhoraji, Gondal, Jetpur, Kalawad, Godhra, Vijalpore (Navsari), Navsari, Bilimora, Vyarav, Vyapar, Bharuch and Ankleshwar.
