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Punjab lifts night curfew, Sunday lockdown as Covid cases decline
Restrictions on marriages, funerals, travel eased but police to strictly enforce wearing of masks
Amid the declining Covid cases and deaths, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday ordered lifting of night curfew and end to the Sunday lockdown, while directing the state police chief to strictly enforce wearing of masks and other safety norms.
The limit for marriage functions and funerals has been increased to 100 people, in line with the Centre’s guidelines, and three people in a car and 50% capacity in buses are allowed, subject to windows being open.
Captain Amarinder Singh directed director general of police Dinkar Gupta to ensure strict adherence to Covid guidelines with immediate action against those violating the mandatory masks condition. “There should be no laxity, especially in view of the ongoing paddy procurement operations and the festival season,” he said.
HOME SECY, EDUCATION DEPT TO DECIDE ON SCHOOLS
On the issue of reopening schools and educational institutions, which the Centre has left to the states to decide post-October 15 under Unlock 5.0, a decision will be announced after deliberations between the home secretary and the education department.
During a virtual meeting to review the Covid situation, the chief minister took note of the decline in the cases/deaths and said the restrictions imposed earlier by the state government had helped. However, he expressed concern over the increase in cases in rural areas, even though numbers in urban areas were going down.
Captain Amarinder directed chief secretary Vini Mahajan to look into arranging for provision of vitamins to poor Covid patients discharged from hospitals.
POSITIVITY RATE DOWN TO 5.12%
In a brief presentation earlier, the state’s expert health committee head, Dr KK Talwar, said the positivity rate in the state had come down from 10.85% on September 14 to 5.12% on September 28.
The number of deaths and patients on ventilators had also shown a decline during this period, he said.
The state’s Covid death rate stands at 2.9% at present, with deaths per million at 112.5%. The recovery rate has gone up to 82.1%.
Health minister Balbir Sidhu, health secretary Hussan Lal and medical education and research secretary Dr DK Tiwari also attended the virtual meeting. “54 Covid patients have been given plasma donation at the three government medical colleges,” Dr Tiwari added.
