Police officers in Gujarat havebeen directed to strictly enforce the lockdown in rural areas of the state to check the spread of coronavirus.Issuing a circular on Wednesday, state Director General of Police (DGP) Shivanand Jha has directed district SPs, Range IGs and police commissioners to ensure that no one comes in or go out of villages.To ensure this, local villagers along with "friends of police" or Gram Rakshak Dal jawans need to keep a watch in shifts and inform the police if they come across any outsider, it said.It will be the responsibility of the 'Friends of Police' to make sure that villagers stay indoors and do not gather at one place, it stated.The DGP also directed the local police to work with Health officials to ensure that people who had come to village from other places get quarantined and do not come in contact with local residents.It will be the duty of 'Friends of Police' to make sure that no one violates the home quarantine. If someone is found symptomatic, he must be shifted to an isolated place in coordination with health department, according to the circular.Jha further directed officials to conduct continuous patrolling in rural areas and remain in constant touch with locals.As on Wednesday, Gujarat has reported 179 coronavirus positive cases.According to a top Health official, 83 out of the total 179 cases have been reported from Ahmedabad, 23 from Surat, 16 from Bhavnagar, 13 each from Vadodara and Gandhinagar, 11 from Rajkot, five from Patan, three from Porbandar, two each from Kutch, Mehsana and Gir Somnath, and one each from Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, Jamnagar, Morbi, Anand, and Sabarkantha.So far, 16 people have died in the state and 25 recovered.
