New Delhi (NVI): Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today ordered a series of emergency measures, including a total ban on all gatherings except weddings and funerals across the state till August 31.
Singh also ordered the extension of weekend lockdown with daily night curfew from 7 pm to 5 am in all the 167 cities and towns of the state from tomorrow.
He while making the announcement today, called for war-like preparedness to deal with the spike in coronavirus cases in the state
“Enough is enough. We need to be tough without affecting the state’s economy,” the Chief Minister said, adding that each of the 920 Covid-linked deaths in the state pains me.
He further said, “The projections for the coming weeks are grim, asserting the state was in an “emergency health situation that necessitated harsh measures”.
As part of measures announced today, all government and private offices will work at 50 per cent capacity till the end of this month, as per the directives issued by the Chief Minister during a meeting with top officials to review the COVID-19 situation in Punjab.
Meanwhile, in five worst affected districts of Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala and SAS Nagar (Mohali), restrictions on vehicular capacity have been imposed again, buses and other public transport to operate with 50 per cent capacity and private four-wheelers not allowed to carry more than 3 passengers per vehicle.
Singh asked the DCs in these five districts to allow only 50 per cent of the non-essential shops to open on a daily basis to check crowding. However, these five districts are currently accounting for 80 per cent of the active cases of COVID-19 in the state.
He also underlined the need to promote public participation in creating awareness on the measures to check the spread of COVID-19 and asked the health department to promote public participation by involving all other departments, NGOs to educate the people.
Punjab’s coronavirus tally rose to 36,084 after 1,684 more people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, while 23 fresh fatalities pushed it’s COVID-19 death toll to 921.
-RJV
