The Ahmedabad municipal corporation on Wednesday announced the closure of the city zoo, lakefront and all public gardens in the city, amid rise in coronavirus cases, PTI reported.

“It has been decided to close all the gardens, Kankaria Lakefront, zoo, etc from March 18 till further orders in view of the Covid-19 pandemic,” the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation said.

The Gujarat government also imposed longer night curfew hours in Ahmedabad and three other metropolitan cities of Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot, starting from Wednesday. The restrictions will now stay in effect from 10 pm to 6 am, as opposed to the earlier timing of 12 am to 6 am.

On Tuesday, Ahmedabad recorded 241 new cases of coronavirus, as compared to 40 cases on February 16, PTI reported. There were as many as 60 “micro-containment areas” in the city as of Tuesday, according to the civic body. The entire state reported 954 new cases and two deaths on Tuesday, while there were 4,966 active cases. On Monday, Gujarat had logged 890 new cases.

Earlier this week, the Board of Control for Cricket in India had announced that the remaining three T20 matches in the ongoing series between India and England will be played without fans in the stadium. The first two matches at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad were played with 50% audience.

Amid a fresh wave of cases in several states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday told chief ministers that it needs to be stopped by taking quick and decisive actions. The prime minister said that 70 districts of the country have seen an increase of more than 150% in new cases during the last few weeks.

India’s daily coronavirus infections rose by 28,903 on Wednesday. This was the highest rise since December 13 and took the country’s tally to 1,14,38,734. Deaths increased by 188, the highest figure in two months, to 1,59,044.