Punjab recorded 1,077 COVID-19 cases on Friday and 25 deaths, taking the fatalities to 731, according to an official statement.
The number of positive cases has mounted to 29,013. The major chunk of new cases, 296 and 135, were reported from Ludhiana and Patiala districts respectively. The Health department said there were 9,954 active cases and 18,328 had been cured so far.
As cases continued to spike, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh announced extension of night curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. to all cities, along with a slew of other measures to control the spread of the pandemic.
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The night-time curfew will now be applicable to all cities, with exemption for industries, said the Chief Minister at a Facebook Live session, while announcing sector-based division of big cities, with a nodal officer to be appointed in each for contact tracing to assist the health teams.
Captain Singh also announced weekend (Saturday-Sunday) ‘stay at home’ for avoidance of unnecessary movement and socialising, other than essential services, in Ludhiana, Patiala and Jalandhar for the next fortnight, after which the situation would be reviewed.