Punjab govt orders weekend lockdown in all cities

n view of rising COVID-19 cases in Punjab, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has ordered a series of emergency measures, including extension of weekend lockdown in all 167 cities and towns in the state and daily night curfew from 7 pm till 5 am. The measures will take effect from today.

The decisions were taken by the Chief Minister during a virtual meeting with top officials to review the Covid situation. As part of emergency measures to deal with COVID-19, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also ordered a complete ban on all gatherings except weddings and funerals across the state till 31st of this month. The Government and private offices will work at 50 per cent capacity till the end of this month

The Chief Minister also directed the concerned officials to restrict public visitors in government officials and to encourage the use of online grievance redressal system.

In the five worst affected districts of Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala and SAS Nagar in Mohali, restrictions on vehicular capacity have been imposed again, with buses and other public transport to operate with 50



percent capacity and private four-wheelers not allowed to carry more than three passengers per vehicle.

The Chief Minister has also directed the deputy commissioners in these five districts to allow only 50 percent of the non-essential shops to open on a daily basis to check crowding. These five districts are currently accounting for 80 percent of the active case load in the state.

Mr Singh also directed Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta to strictly enforce compliance of directions. He also asked the DGP to crack the whip on all political protests and gatherings, and asked his own party, Punjab Congress, leadership to enforce the ban strictly.

Pointing to the 920 coronavirus deaths reported in the state so far, the Chief Minister said each death pains me, and the projections for the coming weeks are grim.

The Chief Minister said the state was in an 'health emergency’ situation, necessitating harsh measures, which might have to be further intensified in the coming days to curb the spread of COVID-19.