Second wave of Covid-19: Punjab curfew from 6 pm daily

Punjab's night curfew, already in force from 8 pm to 5 am, will be clamped at 6 pm from Tuesday onwards. The shops will be closed at 5 pm from Tuesday so as to allow an hour of travel time to the residents.

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A Covid-19 positive patient waits in an ambulance outside a private hospital in Tagore Nagar in Ludhiana. (Express Photo: Gurmeet Singh)

Even as Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh expressed reservations against a complete lockdown in the state after Centre advised it in districts having more than 10 per cent positivity rate, the state government on Monday decided to extend the night curfew by two more hours from 6 pm.

The night curfew, already in force from 8 pm to 5 am, will be clamped at 6 pm from Tuesday onwards. The shops will be closed at 5 pm from Tuesday so as to allow an hour of travel time to the residents.

The state, which already observes a lockdown every Sunday, also decided to impose weekend curfew that will be clamped at 6 pm on Friday and lifted at 5 am on Monday.

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During the Covid review meeting earlier during the day, the CM had expressed his reservations against the lockdown even as several districts in the state including Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Mohali have a positivity rate of more than 15 per cent. The CM had stated that the lockdown starts the menace of exodus of migrants from the states and disturbs the economic dynamics.

Later, during the Cabinet meeting, the government decided that stricter curbs are needed to break the chain of the deadly virus.

Punjab’s health adviser and Covid expert committee head Dr KK Talwar had told The Indian Express on Sunday that they were concerned about the three hour window between 5 pm and 8 pm every day that allowed the youngsters to mingle.

The state is grappling with spiralling covid cases that touched 7,000 on Sunday.

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