Withthe state’s Covid positivity rate coming down to 2%, Punjab Chief MinisterCaptain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday announced easing of the restrictions,allowing restaurants and other eating joints, as well as cinemas and gyms toopen at 50% capacity beginning tomorrow. He also announced increase ingathering of people, including for weddings and cremations, to 50 persons.
Underthe new guidelines, which will remain in effect till June 25 when they will beagain reviewed, daily night curfew will be in place from 8 pm to 5 am, withweekend curfew from 8.00 pm on Saturday upto 5.00 am on Monday, across thestate. However, all essential activities, including those covered underexisting ‘Exemptions’, will remain unaffected, unhindered and exempted fromcurfew restrictions.
Chairinga high-level virtual Covid review meeting, the Chief Minister ordered openingof allRestaurants (including in hotels), Cafes, Coffee Shops, fast food outlets,Dhabas etc., Cinemas, Gyms at maximum 50% of capacity, subject to all theiremployees having received at least one dose of vaccination. AC buses can alsoply with 50% occupation.
Bars,Pubs and ‘Ahatas’ shall, however, continue to remain closed. All educationalinstitutions i.e. schools and colleges will also continue to be closed.
DistrictAuthorities have been asked to determine opening timings of non-essentialshops, including on Sunday, on the basis of the local situation, while ensuringthat crowds are avoided. District Authorities shall also continue to ensurestrict implementation of all the extant directives of MHA/State Government onCovid appropriate behaviour, including social/physical distancing, wearing offace masks etc, directed the Chief Minister.
Theannouncements came as Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan, citing a University ofCambridge Judge Business School report of June 14, on Growth of Infection inPunjab, told the meeting that based on its findings, all districts are ondownward trajectories for new cases. “The estimated trend value of the dailygrowth rate was -9.2% as of 14 June 2021. This implies that reported new caseswill halve in 7 days, under the assumption that the growth rate remainsconstant. As of 14 June 2021, the estimated Reproduction number Rt for Punjabstood at 0.69, significantly below one. Newly reported COVID-19 cases arelikely to decline to about 210 per day by 28 June 2021,” she added.
Further,said Vini, while numbers of cases are low, there are indications that thegrowth rates of cases, while negative, have recently reversed direction fromtheir downward paths in Fazilka, Jalandhar, and Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar. Theprojected number of deaths by 28th June stand at 21.
Thestate had hit its second wave peak on May 8, with 9100 cases, which had comedown to a low of 629 on June 14
Givingdetails of curfew exemptions, an official spokesperson later said that thefollowing activities/establishments shall, subject to observing Covidappropriate behaviour by all concerned, remain exempted from Covidrestrictions.
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*(i) Hospitals, veterinary hospitals andall establishments, both in public and private sector, related to manufactureand supply of all medicines and medical equipment. Including the manufacturing& distribution units such as dispensaries, chemist & pharmacy(includingJan Aushadhi Kendras), laboratories, pharmaceutical research labs, clinics,nursing homes, ambulances etc. Transportation of all personnel of these establishments shall be allowedsubject, however, to production of identity cards.
*(ii) Shops dealing with supply ofessential goods, milk, dairy and poultry products like bread, eggs, meat etcand vegetables, fruits etc.
*(iii) Shops/establishments sellingindustrial materials including raw materials, intermediaries as well asshops/establishments engaged in export and import activities.
*(iv) Activities /establishments relatedto fisheries such as fish, meat and its products including supply of fish seeds
*(v) To and fro’ movement of passengerstravelling by air, trains and buses on production of travel documents. Interand intra state movement of all vehicles/persons carrying essential andnon-essential goods.
*(vi) Delivery of all essential goodsincluding food, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment etc. through E-Commerce.
*(vii) Construction activities in bothurban and rural areas.
*(viii) Agricultural including procurement,horticultural, animal husbandry and veterinary services.
*(ix) Vaccinations out-reach camps.
*(x) Activities of Manufacturingindustry, Commercial & Private establishments and services given belowincluding movement of all their employees/workers and vehicles carrying themupon production of requisite permission from their employers :
*a) Telecommunication, internetservices, broadcasting and cable services. IT and IT enabled services.
*b) Delivery of all essential goodsincluding food, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment etc. through E-Commerce.
*c) Petrol pumps and petroleum products,LPG, petroleum and gas retail and storage outlets, coal, firewood and otherfuels.
*d) Power generation, transmission anddistribution units and services.
*e) Cold storage and warehousingservices.
*f) Private security services
*g) Farming operations by farmers andfarm workers in the field.
*h) All Banking/RBI services, ATMs, CashVans and cash handling/ distribution services.