Ensure virus doesn't spread to municipalities-villages: Gujarat CM

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday said municipalities in semi-urban areas as well as villages must be on guard to ensure novel coronavirus infection does not break out in these parts.

Gujarat has 4,721 COVID-19 cases as on Friday evening, with the vast majority, or 89 per cent, being in urban centres like Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara. He held video conference meets with office bearers of 162 municipalities and village heads and asked them to take all efforts to ensure areas under them are "coronavirus free".

"You must ensure your municipalities remain free of coronavirus. You need to regularly sanitize all the areas in your municipalities. Those municipalities which border cities having a high number of cases must be very alert. It must be ensured that people from red zones do not enter your areas and spread the infection," he told them.

Rupani asked officials to maintain movement registers of those visiting cities and coming back to their towns, adding that these people should be medically examined. He asked officials to take action against those not wearing masks despite it being made mandatory due to the virus outbreak.

He asked sarpanchs to ensure villages adhere to three norms, namely wearing masks, maintaining social distance and washing hands at regular intervals.