Amid worries of a second wave of coronavirus infections, Punjab has imposed a 15-day night curfew in all its cities and towns starting December 1. Night curfew will remain in force from 10pm to 5am. All curbs would be reviewed on December 15.
“Hotels, restaurants and marriage venues will shut down at 9.30 pm,” said chief minister (CM) Captain Amarinder Singh. An official spokesperson said fine for not following Covid-appropriate would be hiked from the present ₹500 to ₹1,000.
Given the inflow of patients from Delhi for treatment in Punjab, it has also been decided to review and optimise the beds availability in the state’s private hospitals. The CM has asked Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan to work with the departments concerned to encourage more private hospitals to come on board and earmark beds for Covid care.
He has also directed the Health and Medical Education departments to make emergency appointments of specialists, super-specialists, nurses and paramedics, to further augment the manpower which was recently strengthened with the recruitment of 249 specialist doctors and 407 medical officers.
However, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij has ruled out the imposition of lockdown or night curfew in the state in view of the surge in Covid cases. He said the state would not impose restrictions, but spread awareness to make people understand that they would have to learn to live with the virus by adhering to safety protocols. Besides, he said, they would challan those violating the Covid norms.
Meanwhile, the Himachal Pradesh government on Monday decided to keep all schools and colleges closed till December 31 and clamped a night curfew in four districts as the state fights a spurt in coronavirus cases.
