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Covid-19: More districts to see night curfew in Punjab; schools, colleges closed till March 31
The authorities also decided to close schools and colleges. Only medical colleges will remain open, according to the measures announced by the Punjab government.
The Punjab government on Thursday announced a fresh set of measures to curb the Covid-19 spread. Under the revised guidelines, the government decided to extend the night curfew from nine to 11 such districts where the cases of infection are rising. The curfew will remain in place from 9pm to 5am.
In the 11 worst-hit districts, all social activities except funerals, cremations and weddings have been prohibited. In permitted social gatherings only 20 persons are allowed. These districts are Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, SBS Nagar, Fatehgarh Sahib, Ropar and Moga.
For now, the stringent measures will only be applicable on the worst-hit districts. However, if people fail to follow Covid-19 protocol and the situation worsens, the government may impose strict curbs in other districts as well, chief minister Amrinder Singh warned at a review meeting of Covid task force with top officials. The situation will be reviewed after two weeks, said Singh.
Meanwhile, except for medical institutes, schools and other colleges are ordered to close till March 31. It has also been decided that only 100 persons will be allowed in a mall at any time, the revised guidelines mandated. Cinema halls have also been asked to function at 50% capacity.
The government also ordered to observe one hour of silence every Saturday, starting next week, to pay respects to the people who lost their lives to Covid-19. No vehicle to ply during this time.
The chief minister, further, appealed to the people to keep social activities at the bare minimum at their home for the next two weeks to break the transmission chain. He also urged people to not invite more than 10 visitors at a time. He also ordered immediate reinforcement and strict monitoring of the strategy of micro-containment and containment zones where there are evident clusters.
This comes as the state is witnessing a sharp spike in daily covid-19 cases. On Thursday, the state reported as many as 2,387 cases in the span of 24 hours. The state tally has now climbed to 2.05 lakh and the death toll has increased to 6,204, according to the daily health bulletin.
