Punjab imposes night curfew in all cities as COVID-19 claims over 920 lives

With the deadly Coronavirus wrecking havoc in this part of the region, Punjab government has imposed night curfew across the state from Friday. The curfew will remain in force from 7 pm to 5 am daily in all 167 cities and towns with weekend lockdown.

The death toll due to COVID-19 has gone to over 920 in the state as of now.

Calling for ‘war-like preparedness’ to deal with the massive COVID-19 spike in the state, Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh has ordered a series of emergency measures, including a total ban on all gatherings except weddings and funerals across the state till August 31.

The 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 video conference meeting with top officials to review the COVID-19 situation in the state, which is witnessing a massive increase in daily cases and an increase in deaths.

Capt Amarinder Singh also directed the concerned officials to restrict public visitors in government officials and to encourage the use of online grievance redressal system, which has been significantly strengthened by the state government to minimise in-person contact with hassle-free online engagement.

In the five worst affected districts of Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala and SAS Nagar (Mohali), restrictions on vehicular capacity have been imposed again, with buses and other public transport to operate with 50 per cent 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 districts to allow only 50 per cent of the non-essential shops to open on a daily basis to check crowding. These five districts currently account for 80 per cent of the active case load in the state.

He also directed Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta to strictly enforce compliance of rules with regard to the number of persons allowed to attend weddings and funerals, and also to ensure total ban on political gatherings till August 31, when the situation will be reviewed. 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.

“Enough is enough,” said Captain Amarinder Singh, adding that “we need to be tough without affecting the state’s economic activity.” Pointing to the 920 Covid deaths reported in the state so far, he said “each death pains me, and the projections for the coming weeks are grim.”

Underlining the need to promote public participation in creating awareness on the measures to check the spread of COVID-19, the Chief Minister asked the Health department to promote public participation (lok sanjheydari) by involving all other departments, NGOs and local politicians to educate the people.

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 COVID-19 spread. Though the cases were currently concentrated mainly in urban areas, rural areas were also witnessing an increase, he said, adding that if needed, travel restrictions may have to be imposed.