CHANDIGARH: While the
Punjab government has extended night curfew in nine districts by two hours, the Chandigarh administration on Thursday decided not to impose it.
The decision was taken in a review meeting chaired by UT administrator VP Singh Badnore, who directed that testing, particularly RT-PCR, should be enhanced. He advised the hospital authorities to ensure that patients going for OPD consultation get themselves tested for
Covid either from government or private facilities to check the spread of virus on hospital premises and prevent risk to health workers and other patients.
The administrator directed municipal corporation (MC) commissioner to intensify contact tracing and enhance sanitization in the city. He asked the police to intensify challaning of those not wearing masks in crowded places, including markets.
He appealed to the shopkeepers to get themselves and their staff voluntarily tested and display a signboard in front of their shops, stating that they were free from coronavirus. The administrator advised the owners of restaurants and other eating places to reduce the number of tables and ensure social distancing.
UT adviser Manoj Parida said the administration was reviewing the situation on a regular basis and were in touch with health experts. At present, there was no need to impose night curfew in the city, he said.
‘Many young patients affected’In the meeting, PGIMER director Dr Jagat Ram said they have 108 Covid patients in Nehru Hospital Extension, out of which 29 belong to Chandigarh, 49 to Punjab, 19 to Haryana, eight to Himachal Pradesh and three to other states. The director said there has been 6% positivity in the samples collected by PGIMER. Another PGI doctor said many young patients have been affected in the recent surge with severe infection and a large number of them were from rural areas. Dr Minni of PGIMER clarified that reports on samples, which were sent for genome testing to Pune, showed that they contain the same corona strain as before.