Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday announced extension of night curfew to the entire State and a ban on political gatherings till April 30, while slamming his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal and SAD’s Sukhbir Badal for their “irresponsible conduct” in attending rallies without following COVID-19 protocol.
Making it clear that those violating the ban on political gatherings, including leaders, will be booked under the Disaster Management Act and the Epidemic Diseases Act, Capt. Amarinder said he has been forced to order the ban on political gatherings as his pleas to parties to refrain from organising such events had been ignored.
The Chief Minister said he was surprised at the “behaviour of certain political leaders, including Kejriwal and Badal, who had been attending political rallies without following safety protocols”.
He said “such irresponsible conduct doesn’t behove them”.
He also directed Punjab DGP, Dinkar Gupta, to ensure strict implementation of the night curfew. As part of the fresh curbs, the number of people who can attend funerals and weddings has been reduced to 50 people indoors and 100 for outdoors.
Wearing masks has been made mandatory for all government employees while in office, an official statement said here while detailing the fresh set of restrictions imposed as the number of COVID-19 cases continued to remain high in the State.
These restrictions, coupled with the ones imposed earlier, which include closure of schools and educational institutions, shall remain effective till April 30.
However, there was some respite for shop owners in malls, as the Chief Minister allowed entry of 10 people per shop at any given time, as against the earlier order of not allowing more than 100 people in the entire mall at one time. This would imply that 200 people will be allowed in a mall with 20 shops at any given time, said the statement.
62 COVID-19 deaths
Punjab had on Tuesday reported 62 more fatalities due to COVID-19, pushing the toll to 7,216 while the State had witnessed 2,924 more cases, taking the infection tally to 2,57,057.
The Chief Minister, in his weekly review of the COVID-19 situation, expressed concern at the high positivity and mortality rates in the State.
