Night curfew in Punjab will remain in force from 10 pm to 5 am, announced the Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday.
Amid the grim Covid situation in Delhi-NCR and "apprehensions of the second wave" in Punjab, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Wednesday ordered a series of fresh restrictions in the state.
The CM said a night curfew will be imposed in the towns and cities of Punjab from December 1 to fight coronavirus.
Night curfew will remain in force from 10 pm to 5 am, announced the Chief Minister, warning people against letting their guard down under any circumstances.
Fresh restrictions in Punjab
The CM also ordered doubling of fine for not wearing masks or following social distancing norms from December 1.
The fine for not wearing masks and not following social distancing norms has been hiked from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000.
The curbs, which will be reviewed on December 15, also restrict operation timings for all hotels, restaurants and marriage palaces till 9.30 pm.
Given the in-flow 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 Chief Minister has asked Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan to work with the concerned departments to encourage more private hospitals to come on board and earmark beds for Covid care.
To further strengthen the availability of oxygen and ICU beds, Singh has ordered the strengthening of the L-II and L-III, with constant monitoring of districts that are not equipped with L-III facilities.
The management practices in GMCHs and Civil Hospitals should also be examined in light of the recommendations of the report received from the expert group, he said.
He 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.
The departments have also been asked to consider preparing fourth and fifth-year MBBS students as reserve and back-up, in case needed in the future.
As per the Union Health Ministry, Punjab has 6,834 active cases of COVID-19.
(With agency inputs)
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 "Punjab night curfew")
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