Night curfew withdrawn in Rajasthan; RT-PCR cost slashed Jaipur, Jan 18 (PTI) T'

The Rajasthan government on Monday decided to withdraw the night curfew in view of a decline in COVID-19 cases.

The government also decided to further slash the rate of RT-PCR test, a confirmatory test for COVID-19, at private labs from Rs. 800 to Rs. 500.

Also, the number of reserved COVID beds in private hospitals with a capacity of above 100 beds will be reduced to a minimum 10.

The decisions were taken at a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot at his residence.

"In the COVID-19 review meeting, it has been decided to end the night curfew in the state and to give some relaxations in a phased manner. But it will be necessary to follow health protocols, otherwise the number of infected patients may increase," Gehlot tweeted.

The state government had, on November 21, decided to impose the night curfew in eight districts from 8 PM to 6 AM following a spurt in coronavirus cases.

The night curfew was initially imposed in Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Bikaner, Udaipur, Ajmer, Alwar and Bhilwara district headquarters, and a few days later it was extended to five more districts headquarters of Nagaur, Pali, Tonk, Sikar and Ganganagar.

In another tweet, Gehlot informed about the decision to slash rates of RT-PCR tests in private labs by Rs. 300.

"In the review meeting, it was decided to reduce the rate of RT-PCR test in private labs in the state from Rs. 800 to Rs. 500 and to reduce the number of reserved covid beds in private hospitals with capacity above 100 beds to a minimum of 10," he said.

The rate of RT-PCR in private labs was slashed from Rs. 1200 to Rs 800 per test on November 28.

In November, the daily number of cases had crossed the 3,000-mark in Rajasthan, but it has come down significantly now.

As many as 261 persons tested positive on Sunday and the number of active cases was 5,050.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)