Coronavirus Lockdown: Ahmedabad Shuts Shops, Services For A Week. Medicine, Milk Stores Exempt

All shops will be shut except medicine and milk stores in Gujarat's Ahmedabad from Thursday morning till May 15 midnight to implement social distancing effectively as the city ramps up its fight against coronavirus. Home deliveries will also be halted in the city.

All hospitals and medical facilities will remain open.

Many areas in the city today reported chaotic panic-buying after the state government's announcement. Vegetable carts saw long queues and soon ran out of supplies as people thronged them to stock up for the week. Social distancing norms were flouted and lockdown guidelines which bar movement from 7pm to 7am were also not followed.

The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, in an order, said that supermarkets, grocery stores and vegetable carts have become a potent source of infection and thus they will be shut for 7 days from tomorrow. The civic body also said food delivery apps like Swiggy and Zomato's delivery partners are also a source of infection.

"All shops and home delivery services except milk and medicines shall remain closed for the next seven days starting from tomorrow i.e. 7/5/2020 6AM," the order reads.

Ahmedabad has reported 4,425 COVID-19 cases and 273 deaths. The death rate in the city is 6.1 per cent - almost double the national average of around 3.3 per cent, unidentified officials told news agency PTI.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has requested Union Home Minister Amit Shah to send a team of medical experts to the city to tackle the crisis.

"The usual shops selling vegetables were shut for the day and people had to rely only on roadside tempos and handcarts for vegetables," Bhash Mankad, a lawyer told NDTV.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Ahmedabad's Municipal Commissioner Vijay Nehra went into quarantine after he came in contact with a COVID-19 patient.