The Punjab government on Wednesday issued a fresh set of directives to the police and civil administration in order to ensure that the people are not inconvenienced during the ongoing lockdown even as the State reported two fresh cases of the virus.
State's health department said that two new cases COVID-19 were reported in Punjab on March 25, taking the total cases to 31. One patient is from Hoshiarpur district and was in close contact with a positive case. The other patient is from Ludhiana and doesn’t have a travel history. The source of patient's infection is being identified, it added.
Panel formed
Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has constituted a committee to oversee the procurement processes for all COVID-19 related items. The Chief Minister in a statement said he has directed the police and administrative officials to ensure that door-to-door delivery of essential services is maintained for the desired-prescribed period and it may, as far as possible, be further streamlined with the assistance of e-commerce companies and service providers.
Sanitation drive
The Chief Minister has also ordered sanitisation of affected or vulnerable areas, for which guidelines have been issued by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, may be undertaken in both concerned towns and villages.
While there would continue to be no general relaxation in curfew, if it is decided by the district administration in due course to relax it in a selected area, due care must be taken to avoid overcrowding and to observe prescribed social distancing, according to the guidelines, added the statement.
In Union Territory of Chandigarh no fresh cases of Covid-19 was reported on March 25. However, two women have been kept under isolation and their test results are awaited. Amid the lockdown, the Union Territory administration was seen battling to provide essentials like vegetables and milk in many parts of the city.
The Union Territory Advisor Manoj Parida, took to Twitter, saying “Just as we were preparing 4 hour sector wise relaxation in curfew, came orders for total lockdown, at night,we switched over to door delivery which is taking some teething problem. please please bear till tomorrow.”
He added: “Test of efficiency of Chandigarh administration is not how much convenience we provided to people during curfew, but how many death or new cases we prevented. Now citizens may be angry with us later they will thank us for strictness.”
