Amid growing concern over the rising Covid-19 cases in Punjab, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordered restriction on indoor gathering to 100 and outdoor to 200 people from 1 March, along with strict enforcement of mask/social distancing etc, with testing to be ramped to 30,000 a day.
Chairing a high-level virtual meeting to review the situation, the Chief Minister also authorised the DCs to impose night curfew in hot spots in their districts if needed, with micro containment strategy to be adopted. He directed the police force to ensure strict enforcement of wearing of masks, along with notification of Covid monitors by all restaurants, marriage palaces, with the Department of Excise and Taxation to be the nodal agency for the same.
The Chief Minister said that a decision on reducing occupancy in cinema halls will be taken after 1 March. Private offices and restaurants shall be encouraged to display last tests done for all employees, he added.
While directing increased testing, Captain Amarinder ordered mandatory testing of 15 contacts per positive, with monitoring to be done by CPTOs and review to be undertaken by the Health Department.
The Chief Minister also took stock of the vaccination status, underlining the need to carry out an IEC campaign to promote 100% coverage of healthcare and frontline workers. He directed the Health Department to plan the roll out of vaccine for the elderly population and those with comorbidities.
Apprising the Chief Minister of measures taken by the Punjab Police to enforce adherence to safety protocols, DGP Dinkar Gupta said instructions have been issued to field officers to strictly impose restrictions.
Earlier, in a brief presentation, Health Secretary Hussan Lal informed the meeting that the districts of Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, SAS Nagar and SBS Nagar had shown a spike in positivity in recent days, triggering concerns over a possible fresh wave in the state.
So far, no new mutated variant of coronavirus had been witnessed in Punjab but new samples had been sent for testing and the results were expected next week, said Dr K.K. Talwar, who is heading the state government’s expert group on Covid.