Amid the grim COVID-19 situation in Delhi-National Capital Region and apprehensions of a second wave in Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday ordered a series of fresh restrictions in the State, including re-imposition of night curfew in all towns and cities with effect from December 1.
The curbs, which will shall be reviewed on December 15, will allow all hotels, restaurants and marriage venues to remain open till 9.30 p.m. Night curfew will remain in force from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., announced the Chief Minister.
Giving details of the new restrictions after a high-level State COVID-19 review meeting, an official statement said fine for not following guidelines shall be hiked from the present ₹500 to ₹1,000.
Mr. Singh has asked Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan to work with departments concerned to encourage more private hospitals to earmark beds for COVID-19 care, it said.
The Chief Minister has 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.
On the testing front, Mr. Singh stressed the need to fully utilise the 25,500 daily RT-PCR testing capacity, and directed targeted and regular testing of potential super spreaders, including government officials.
Referring to the reports of early vaccine coming in, the Chief Minister said while he was happy to note that the data base for healthcare workers was ready, the departments should also look at the other categories of frontline workers who could be prioritised for the vaccine.
