Punjab became the latest state to announce new restrictions, including night curfew and doubling of fine for not wearing masks or following distancing norms, amid rising coronavirus cases. The growth in cases is being particularly felt in Delhi and the NCR region in the wake of a second wave of infections. Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have already put in place curfews at night.
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday ordered night curfew in all towns and cities of Punjab from 10pm to 5am and doubled the fine for violating Covid-19 protocols to Rs 1,000 effective December 1. Apart from this, restaurants and wedding venues are to shut by 9.30 pm. The limitations will be reviewed on December 15.
On Tuesday, Punjab had 614 corona positive cases while 22 more succumbed to the infection that pushed the death toll in the state to 4,653. Punjab has so far logged 147,665 Covid-19 cases including 6,834 active cases, over 136,000 recoveries and 4,653 deaths. Eleven critical patients are on ventilator support, while 139 are on oxygen support in the state. The state has tested over 3.5 million samples so far. The principal secretary to the Punjab Governor VP Singh Badnore was among six people who tested positive for coronavirus in Chandigarh.
Recent data shows the maximum cases were reported from Ludhiana (103), followed by Jalandhar (94) and Patiala (82). Four deaths each were reported from Sangrur and Patiala, three each from Jalandhar and Ludhiana, two each from Bathinda and Gurdaspur and one each from Fatehgarh Sahib, Mansa, Moga and Pathankot.
Punjab CM Amarinder Singh was not a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Covid-19 review meeting on Tuesday. Singh had cited personal reasons for not attending the meeting. He had gone through Covid-19 test and his report was negative.
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India’s Covid-19 tally reached 92.2 lakh with 44,376 fresh cases in the last 24 hours, the Union Health Ministry data said. Active cases have continued to remain below the 500,000-mark while over 86 lakh people have recovered so far and the overall recovery rate stands at 93.72 per cent.