The Gujarat government has extended the night curfew imposed in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot by 15 days in view of a spike in the coronavirus cases in the state, PTI reported on Saturday. The curfew was to end on Sunday.

This is the fifth extension to the night curfew, which was first imposed in November after a surge in coronavirus cases in these cities post-Diwali.

The decision was taken after Chief Minister Vijay Rupani held a meeting on Friday evening to review the coronavirus situation in the state. Gujarat has reported 460 new infections in the last 24 hours.

In view of the rising Covid-19 cases, the government has decided to expedite the vaccination drive, a statement said.

More than 4.07 lakh, or 84%, of the total 4.82 lakh healthcare workers were inoculated in the first phase of Covid-19 vaccination, the statement said. Also, out of the total 5.41 lakh frontline workers, 4.14 lakh, or 77%, have been covered in the drive so far.

The statement said that the second dose of the vaccine has been administered to 1.23 lakh healthcare workers till now. The health department has also claimed that Gujarat ranks first in the country in terms of vaccination per million population.

Gujarat has so far reported 2,69,031 Covid-19 cases and the toll stood at 4,408, according to the Union health ministry data. There are 2,136 active cases and 2,62,487 patients have recovered so far.