Now, one hour of silence will be observed in Punjab in memoryof those who have died due to Corona. Every Saturday, from 11 am to 12 noon, vehiclesare not to ply on the roads.
Captain Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister of Punjab, hasdirected the district administrations all over the state to involve the generalpublic, along with market committees, Sarpanches etc, in this initiative, whichwill, however, remain voluntary for them.
In the 11 worst affected districts of Ludhiana, Jalandhar,Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, SBS Nagar, Fatehgarh Sahib,Ropar and Moga, the Chief Minister ordered restrictions on in-person publicdealings in government offices, with citizens to be encouraged to visit officesonly for essential services. Captain Amarinder directed officials to encourageonline and virtual modes for grievance redressal, and asked concerneddepartments to issue necessary instructions for limiting appointments per dayfor registries etc.
Though other districts will not be placed under suchstringent restrictions for now, the Chief Minister ordered immediatereinforcement and strict monitoring of the strategy of micro-containment andcontainment zones where there are evident clusters. He made it clear that ifnecessary, strict curbs will also be imposed in other districts if thesituation worsens and Covid protocols and norms are not adhered to be by thepeople.
The situation will be reviewed after two weeks, said theChief Minister, chairing a meeting of the Covid Task Force with top officials.