Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday announced to extend the night curfew in four major cities of the state for the next 15 days as a precautionary measure even as coronavirus cases are on decline in the state, reports PTI.

Asserting that the administration was able to control the deadly virus due to the night curfew imposed in November, 2020 in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot, Rupani urged people to be patient and cooperate with the authorities.

“The night curfew after 10 pm will continue for 15 more days in all four cities. There will be no relaxation for now, as there is a drastic decrease in new cases (because of curfew). People need to have patience and cooperate with the authorities,” he told reporters in Jamnagar.

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He added that the decision will be taken at an appropriate juncture to lift the curfew.

The Gujarat government had imposed a night curfew in four major cities in November, 2020 after a sudden spike in fresh coronavirus cases after Diwali last year.

Earlier, people were barred from venturing out between 9 pm till 6 am every day in these cities.

However, in a minor respite, the timing was recently revised to 10 pm till 6 am.

As on Thursday, Gujarat’s COVID-19 tally stood at 2,54,314 cases, including 4,357 fatalities.