Punjab: Night curfew from 6 pm, full lockdown on weekends imposed - Details inside

The Punjab government on Monday imposed daily lockdown and weekend lockdown owing to the surge in COVID-19 cases. As per the new order, a daily lockdown will continue from 6 pm to 5 am till further notice. Meanwhile, a weekend lockdown will be in force from Friday 6 pm to Monday 5 am.

Earlier, the night curfew restrictions were from 8 pm to 5 am.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain (retired) Amarinder Singh on Monday took to Twitter to announce the news.

"Due to continuous & rapid rise of #Covid19 cases in Punjab, Cabinet today has decided to impose daily lockdown from 6 PM to 5 AM and weekend lockdown from Friday 6 PM to Monday 5 AM," he wrote.

"Urge you all to stay at home & step out only if absolutely necessary. Seek your full cooperation," he added.

Due to continuous & rapid rise of #Covid19 cases in Punjab, Cabinet today has decided to impose daily lockdown from 6 PM to 5 AM and weekend lockdown from Friday 6 PM to Monday 5 AM. Urge you all to stay at home & step out only if absolutely necessary. Seek your full cooperation. pic.twitter.com/gS4TFlw5lZ

— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) April 26, 2021

The Punjab government has also ordered the closure of shops by 5 pm, news agency PTI reported.

Punjab Chief Minister Captain (retired) Amarinder Singh on Sunday had directed the State Health Department to order 30 lakh Covishield doses for vaccination of the 18-45 age group, with directions to use Chief Minister Covid Relief Fund for meeting the vaccine requirements of the needy.

The Chief Minister asked the health department to immediately place an order for the 30 lakh doses with the Serum Institute of India (SII) so that the supplies can start coming in at the earliest.

The state recorded a single-day spike of 7014 cases on Sunday, which pushed the tally of infected to 339,090. With 76 deaths the toll rose to 8432, according to the medical bulletin released by the Punjab government.