Rajasthan imposes Covid curbs on political rallies, fairs, weddings

The Rajasthan government on Sunday capped the number of people attending political and other rallies, dharnas, fairs and weddings at 100 and ordered closure of schools in Jaipur city for classes 1 to 8, in view of rising COVID-19 cases.

The decisions were taken at a Covid review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot here. Schools for classes 1 to 8 will be closed in Jaipur from January 3 to 9, while the other restrictions are applicable for entire Rajasthan and will come into force from 5 am on January 7, according to guidelines issued by the home department.

A maximum of 100 people will be allowed in marriage functions, public, political, social or educational meetings and processions, dharnas, fairs and such events, it stated. Before organising any such event, information regarding the same will have to be uploaded on a web portal developed by the DoIT, it added. People coming from abroad will have to undergo mandatory RT-PCR tests in Rajasthan and will have to be in institutional or home quarantine for seven days till test reports come negative for the virus.

Domestic travellers arriving in Rajasthan will have to produce double vaccine certificates or RT-PCR negative test reports not older than 72 hours, the guidelines stated.

Regular classroom activities for classes 1 to 8 in all private and government schools in the areas of Jaipur Greater and Jaipur Heritage municipal corporations will be closed from January 3 to 9, it added.

In other districts, collectors will take decisions about schools after discussion with the additional chief secretary of the education department.

Students of other classes and coaching institutes will have to produce written consent of their parents or guardians to attend physical classes. Those who do not want to attend offline classes will not be pressured and online classes will continue, the guidelines stated.

A maximum of 100 guests will be allowed in marriage functions. An additional 100 people (band parties etc.) will also be allowed. The number of people attending funerals will be capped at 20, it said.

Covid-appropriate behaviour will have to be strictly followed at religious places and offerings such as flowers and prasad will be restricted, the guidelines said.

The government also directed all commercial establishments to ensure double vaccination of all staffers by January 31. A night curfew will remain in force from 11 pm to 5 am in the state. Rajasthan recorded 355 more cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, including 224 from Jaipur alone. With this, the total number of people found infected in the state increased to 9,56,883. At present, 1,572 patients are under treatment in the state.