Amid surge in novel coronavirus cases in the state, Punjab government on Tuesday ordered to extend the existing Covid-19-related restrictions till 10 April to curb spread of the virus.
The announcement came after Punjab chief minister Capt Amarinder Singh reviewed the Covid situation with the Chief Secretary and other top officials earlier today. Post-meeting, the chief minister office stated that another Covid review will take place after 10 April.
The Chief Minister also ordered the launch of a vaccination drive in the prisons, in the wake of 40 women in Patiala’s Nabha Open Jail testing positive for Coronavirus, CMO said in a statement.
In an earlier order, the Punjab government had announced a fresh set of measures to curb the Covid-19 spread. Under the revised guidelines, the government decided to extend the night curfew from nine to 11 such districts, including Ludhiana, Patiala, where the cases of infection are rising. The curfew will remain in place from 9 pm to 5am.
Except for medical institutes, schools and other colleges are ordered to close till March 31. It has also been decided that only 100 persons will be allowed in a mall at any time, the revised guidelines mandated. Cinema halls have also been asked to function at 50% capacity.
The government also ordered to observe one hour of silence every Saturday to pay respects to the people who lost their lives to Covid-19. No vehicle to ply during this time.
Moreover, six states, including Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, have reported a high number of daily COVID-19 cases and account for 78.56 per cent of the 56,211 fresh cases recorded in the country in a day, the Union Health Ministry said on Tuesday.
India's COVID-19 tally has climbed to 1,20,95,855, while 271 more fatalities have pushed the death toll to 1,62,114, according to the ministry's date updated at 8 am.
Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, continue to report a high surge in daily cases accounting for 78.56 per cent of the new infections reported in a span of 24 hours, it said.
Coronavirus claimed 59 more lives in Punjab on Monday as 2,914 fresh infections took the state’s case count to 2,34,602, according to a medical bulletin.
So far, the virus has killed 6,749 people in the state since its outbreak last year.
On Monday, the maximum 13 deaths were reported from Jalandhar, followed by 11 in Ludhiana and 10 in Hoshiarpur.
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