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Cinema halls, spas to open in Chandigarh with 50% capacity
Chandigarh administration allows Rock Garden and museums to open too; number of people that can attend a social gathering increased
As the daily Covid-19 case tally hit a new low of two in Chandigarh on Tuesday, the UT administration decided to allow cinema halls and spas to open with 50% capacity from Wednesday.
Even Rock Garden and museums, which were closed to stop the infection spread during the second wave, will reopen with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocol.
While Rock Garden was shut down on April 13, more restrictions were introduced in the following weeks with a partial lockdown imposed in Chandigarh from May 4. In the recent weeks, various curbs have been relaxed in view of the drop in infection numbers.
The administration on Tuesday also increased the cap on the number of guests at social gatherings, such as weddings, to 200 or 50% capacity of the banquet hall, whichever is less. However, all adult attendees and staff should have received at least one dose of the vaccine or should have a negative RT-PCR report within last 72 hours.
All decisions were taken during the Covid-19 review meeting chaired by UT administrator VP Singh Badnore.
Govt schools, coaching centres to reopen
Government schools are also set to open for Classes 9 to 12 from July 19. However, online teaching will continue and physical attendance will be optional.
Students attending physical classes will have to carry their parents’ consent. Director, school education, Rubinderjit Singh Brar said a detailed order will be issued shortly.
After the closure in March last year, schools were first reopened for Classes 9 to 12 in November, but were again closed in March this year.
During the review meeting, it was also decided that coaching institutes will be allowed to function physically from July 19.
However, all employees and students above the age of 18 should be administered at least one dose of vaccine. Coaching centres have also been directed to strictly follow all the Covid-19 protocol.
Positivity rate on the downward trajectory
During the meeting, Dr Amandeep Kang, director health services, said that 11,390 samples have been tested for Covid-19 in the past one week and the positivity rate stood at 0.5%.
Also, 71% of the eligible population in Chandigarh has been given the first dose of the vaccine while 17% are fully vaccinated, she said.
Dr GD Puri of the PGIMER said that the institute has only 45 Covid-19 patients, and positivity rate among Chandigarh residents tested there in the past week dropped to 0.23%. Badnore advised the institute to start a genome sequencing lab at the earliest.
At GMCH, Sector 32, positivity rate was found to be 0.2% in the past one week, said director-principal Dr Jasbinder Kaur. The hospitals also informed Badnore that OPDs and emergency services are returning back to normal.
