Warningof several more tough measures and restrictions over the next few days, PunjabChief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday announced 2-hour extensionin the night curfew in the state’s nine districts worst affected by Covid.
Nightcurfew will now be in place from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m, instead of 11 p.m to 5 am, inthe districts of Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Gurdaspur,Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Ropar. All these districts are reporting more than100 cases daily. The announcement came as Punjab’s daily cases shot up to 2039cases with 35 deaths on Wednesday.
Addressinga press conference to mark the completion of four years of his government, theChief Minister said the Covid situation in the state was critical and he wasgoing to be tough.
Severalstringent measures, including restrictions on gatherings, will be announcedafter discussions with the state government’s expert Covid team over the nextcouple of days, he said. Whether these will include restrictions on politicalgatherings was also something that will be decided as per the medical expertteam’s advice, he added.
“Iwon’t be easy on the people.” People may not like it, but it’s my duty, hesaid, adding that he hoped the daily case load won’t cross 3000, as projectedby some experts. He also expressed the hope that all Punjabis will cooperateand adhere to the restrictions. “For God’s sake, save the lives of Punjabis,”he urged citizens.
With283 Covid patients in high-dependencyunits (on Oxygen) and another 27 on ventilators, the situation is dangerous,said Captain Amarinder, urging people to go to the doctor and get themselvestested even if they feel slightly unwell. The problem was people were going to hospitals too late, he said. Heappealed to all citizens to wear masks and maintain social distance, warningthat penalties may also be enhanced if required.
Whilehis government was taking all possible measures to check the spread of thevirus, the Chief Minister hoped the Centre would accept his suggestion(submitted at the Prime Minister’s meeting yesterday) on opening up thevaccination to younger people in the worst hit areas and also to all those inpublic dealing.
Toa question on Himachal Pradesh CM’s statement seeking curbs on people coming infrom Punjab for pilgrimage and religious purposes, Captain Amarinder said hewas not in favour of restricting religious movement. But the Covid problemneeds to be controlled, and an appropriate decision will be taken when he getsa formal letter from the chief minister of the neighbouring state on thisissue.
Meanwhile,Captain Amarinder Singh disclosed that he had called up SAD president SukhbirSingh Badal, who has tested positive for Covid and was then in Fortis Mohali,to offer any help in his treatment. Sukhbir was subsequently shifted to MedantaHospital, Gurgaon. The Chief Minister hoped Sukhbir would recover soon, aswould several of his own cabinet colleagues, party MLAs and officials.