Amid complaints of mass violations of Covid curbs at weddings and parties, Punjab chief minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday ordered restriction of 100 on indoor and 250 on outdoor gatherings in the state, with extension of night curfew in all cities and towns till January 1, 2021.
He also directed Director General of Police (DGP) Dinkar Gupta to strictly enforce the restrictions at marriage palaces and other gatherings, with penalties to be imposed on the hosts in case of deviance.
Taking cognisance of the rise in Covid cases in the state, CM also extended night curfew restrictions (10pm to 5am) till January 1. The night curfew was earlier imposed from December 1 to December 15.
Chairing a Covid review meeting, the CM ordered an end to home quarantine for those above the age of 70 with co-morbidities, unless adequate medical facilities can be made available at home. To further check fatality, he ordered a thorough check of all private hospitals to ensure that only those with adequate Level 3 infrastructure and manpower be allowed to admit Covid patients. Hospitals lacking such facilities should refer patients to other hospitals, he said.
He asked the Health Department to maintain the 30,000/day RTPCR sampling/testing limit, with more smart and targeted sampling to include potential super spreaders. Captain asked the Health Department to monitor the health of the farmers who are returning from Delhi in view of the risk to them due to the high case load there.
