The Gujarat government on Sunday announced closure of all the schools, colleges, malls, theatres and swimming pools from Monday till March 31.
This comes after the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the country crossed 100.
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani convened a high-level meeting on Sunday and precautionary measures to contain the spread of the deadly coronavirus were discussed.
The home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has so far not reported any positive case.
“As a precautionary measure, the State government has decided to stop all the academic activities at schools and colleges for the next two weeks. All the malls, swimming pools and theatres will remain closed for the period,” informed Jayanti Ravi, Additional Chief Secretary (Health), Government of Gujarat, after the meeting at Gandhinagar.
However, the board exams in the State will continue according to the schedule and the academic and non-academic Staff at the schools and colleges have been asked to be present.
In a major decision, the State government has also banned spitting in open and fixed a fine of ₹500 for violators. Ravi also informed that religious organisations in the State have been advised to defer any mass gatherings or religious events for next two weeks.
Per the information shared by the government, a total of 3,202 international travellers have been screened till March 14 and 1,226 travellers have completed 28-days observation period. There were 77 suspected patients till Saturday and all the samples have been tested. So far, there is no positive case, while results for five cases are pending.
Thank you for being a loyal user of Portfolio.
Portfolio will be a paid section hereon.
Please Subscribe to get access to one of our early bird packs.
Or click on Free Trial to get 14 days free trial.
What You'll Get
-
Web + Mobile
Access exclusive content of the Hindu Businessline across desktops, tablet and mobile device.
-
Exclusive Portfolio and Investment Advice, Banking, Lifestyle and Specials
Get diverse set of perspectives from our trusted experts on Portfolio, Banking, Economy, Environment and others.
-
Ad free experience
Experience cleaner site with zero ads and faster load times.
-
Personalised dashboard
Customize your preference and get a personalized recommendation of stories based on your interest.
Published on
March 15, 2020
A letter from the Editor
Dear Readers,
The coronavirus crisis has changed the world completely in the last few months. All of us have been locked into our homes, economic activity has come to a near standstill. Everyone has been impacted.
Including your favourite business and financial newspaper. Our printing and distribution chains have been severely disrupted across the country, leaving readers without access to newspapers. Newspaper delivery agents have also been unable to service their customers because of multiple restrictions.
In these difficult times, we, at BusinessLine have been working continuously every day so that you are informed about all the developments – whether on the pandemic, on policy responses, or the impact on the world of business and finance. Our team has been working round the clock to keep track of developments so that you – the reader – gets accurate information and actionable insights so that you can protect your jobs, businesses, finances and investments.
We are trying our best to ensure the newspaper reaches your hands every day. We have also ensured that even if your paper is not delivered, you can access BusinessLine in the e-paper format – just as it appears in print. Our website and apps too, are updated every minute, so that you can access the information you want anywhere, anytime.
But all this comes at a heavy cost. As you are aware, the lockdowns have wiped out almost all our entire revenue stream. Sustaining our quality journalism has become extremely challenging. That we have managed so far is thanks to your support. I thank all our subscribers – print and digital – for your support.
I appeal to all or readers to help us navigate these challenging times and help sustain one of the truly independent and credible voices in the world of Indian journalism. Doing so is easy. You can help us enormously simply by subscribing to our digital or e-paper editions. We offer several affordable subscription plans for our website, which includes Portfolio, our investment advisory section that offers rich investment advice from our highly qualified, in-house Research Bureau, the only such team in the Indian newspaper industry.
A little help from you can make a huge difference to the cause of quality journalism!
Support Quality Journalism
Please Email the Editor