Gandhinagar, Jul 29 (IANS): As the coronavirus situation is improving in Gujarat, the state government has decided to further relax the night curfew timings by an hour in eight major cities from July 31. However, the government has made it mandatory for business fraternity to get the first dose of vaccine for their staff by the end of this month.

Granting one more hour, the government has allowed businesses in 8 Municipal Corporations to function till 10 p.m. in the night, instead of 9 p.m. But the order says each staff will have to compulsorily get vaccinated by July 31.

The Gujarat government led by chief minister Vijay Rupani in the core committee meeting on Wednesday decided to allow some more relaxations in the state in view of the significant drop in Covid cases.

The night curfew is in place between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat, Vadodara, Jamnagar, Bhavnagar, Gandhinagar and Junagadh.

From July 31, the night time restrictions on people's movement will be effective from 11 p.m. till 6 a.m. in these cities. Hotels and restaurants can remain open till 10 p.m, while instead of the current limit of 200 guests, 400 persons can now attend public events if held in open spaces.

The state government has also decided to permit celebrations for the upcoming Ganesh Utsav in public places, with condition that the idol will have to be less than four feet in height.

Meanwhile, Gujarat reported 28 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday and did not report any fatality for a week.