Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Sunday said the COVID-19 situation in the State had so far been manageable due to the strict imposition of lockdown and the cooperation of people.
He, however, said it had become essential now to ease some of the restrictions, but that did not mean that people could be allowed to violate the safety protocols, terming as “unfortunate” the large number of violations being reported.
The Chief Minister, who was responding to questions during a Facebook live, said on last Friday alone, 4,600 challans had been issued for failure to wear mask in public, 160 for spitting, and around two dozen for not adhering to social distancing norms.
“Such irresponsible behaviour could not be permitted as it could push Punjab on the same path as many other States in India,” he said. Capt. Amarinder pointed out that with 2.5% of the country’s population, the State was currently contributing a mere 0.5% of the COVID-19 cases.
‘Go to govt. hospitals’
Responding to a complaint of private hospitals charging exorbitantly for admitting COVID-19 patients, the Chief Minister said he will ask the medical department to check, but urged people to go to government hospitals which were equipped with the best-in-class facilities and staff.
93 new cases
Meanwhile, Punjab recorded 93 fresh COVID-19 cases on June 7 and reported one more death taking the toll to 51, according to an official statement.
The number of positive cases has reached 2,608.