Punjab Govt Extends Night Curfew Timings In 9 Districts, CM Amarinder Singh Warns Of Stricter Measures

Punjab Coronavirus Surge: The night curfew in these areas will be in place from 9 pm to 5 am as opposed to 11 pm to 5 am.

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Chandigarh: As Punjab continues to record a spike in Covid-19 cases with the daily positivity rate climbing to over five percent, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday extended the timings of night curfew in nine worst-hit districts by two hours.

The nine districts where the night curfew has been extended were Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Ropar, all getting more than 100 positive cases daily.

The night curfew in these areas will be in place from 9 pm to 5 am as opposed to 11 pm to 5 am. Meanwhile, other districts have been asked to assess the situation and take action accordingly.

"Covid is in very dangerous situation in Punjab again. Yesterday 2,039 positive cases were reported and there were 35 deaths. A day earlier there were 40 deaths in state," the Chief Minister said.

CM Amarinder Singh warned that if required, he would go for more stringent measures to contain the Covid spread in the days to come. He also clarified that he was not in favour of restricting the movement of people in religious places.

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's virtual Covid-19 review meeting with chief ministers of all states which took place on Wednesday, Amarinder Singh had urged the Centre to review its immunisation strategy to vaccinate all age groups in selected areas.

He also stated that Punjab's testing per million has been maintained at higher than the national average.

As for the Covid-19 case tally, Punjab reported 2,387 fresh cases, along with 32 fatalities. The total active cases in the state are 14,366.

(With Agency Inputs)