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Covid-19: Night curfew imposed in Punjab’s Patiala, essential services exempted
"Curfew will be effective from the night of March 12, 2021 from 11 pm to 5 am, till further orders," a government order said on Thursday.
Beginning March 12, 2021 (Friday), a night curfew would be imposed in Punjab’s Patiala district between 11pm and 5am, according to the state government. However, essential services and medical emergencies would be exempted from the curfew, the government said.
“Taking in view increasing COVID cases, District Magistrate, Kumar Amit has imposed night curfew in Patiala District from tomorrow. Curfew will be effective from the night of March 12, 2021 from 11 pm to 5 am, till further orders. However, police and army personnel on duty, Government Officials/Employees, Essential Services/Medical Emergency and any other Emergency related to the safety of the public/property, would be exempted from the purview of these orders,” a government order said on Thursday.
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Patiala reported 110 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday and is one among the most affected districts in Punjab with 18,087 total cases. The district has 907 active cases currently and has reported 526 deaths so far, according to the state government’s Covid-19 bulletin on Thursday. With 28,323 cases, Ludhiana remains the most affected district in Punjab in terms of total Covid-19 cases and SBS Nagar has the highest active caseload with 1,348 cases, the bulletin showed.
Meanwhile, the Union ministry of health and family welfare on Thursday identified Punjab as one among eight states that have reported a surge in the daily new Covid-19 cases. The seven other states are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka and Haryana.
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The ministry also observed that Punjab is one among five states where the active caseload has seen a significant increase in the past month. The state had reported 2,112 active cases on February 11, 2021, which rose to 9,402 cases on Thursday. It is the second-highest growth after Maharashtra, data from the ministry showed.
In the last 24 hours, Punjab reported 1,309 new Covid-19 cases and 18 deaths, according to the government’s Covid-19 bulletin. The state currently has 10,069 active cases. Also, 195,948 first doses and 59,797 second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered to healthcare and frontline workers in the state, according to the latest data.
