Concerned over Delta Plus COVID variant, Punjab CM extends COVID lockdown till July 10

As cases of Delta Plus COVID variant continue to be reported across the country, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordered an extension of the Coronavirus curbs till July 10. As per the new COVID restrictions, the Punjab government has given some more relaxations and allowed the opening of bars and pubs with 50 per cent capacity till July 10. Besides restaurants & pubs, skill development centers and universities have also been allowed to open with a condition that the staff should be vaccinated with at least a single dose of COVID vaccination.

While announcing the relaxations at a high-level COVID review meeting, CM Captain Amarinder Singh said that if the bars and pubs will have to strictly follow COVID appropriate behavior such as social distancing. He said, “It would be the responsibility of the owners to ensure that all the conditions are being met.”

Punjab CM: 'Positivity rate is below 1 per cent'

Remarking that the COVID positivity rate in the state has been decreased to less than 1 per cent, the Punjab Chief Minister said that the positivity rate in some districts still remains over one per cent. Asserting that the finding of Delta Plus variant COVID cases is a matter of concern, Singh said that it is necessary to continue with the COVID-19 related restrictions.

The Punjab CM said, “The month-wise whole-genome sequencing has shown that more than 90 per cent is a variant of concern, with the original virus, has been practically replaced by variants, disclosed the Chief Minister. Two cases (Ludhiana and Patiala) have shown Delta Plus variant, while in May and June, the Delta variant was most prevalent.”

Informing that out of the 198 contacts of the Ludhiana patients, one was found to be positive and has seen sent for genome sequencing, Amarinder Singh said that in the Patiala case, for which the genome sequencing report was received on June 26, the process of testing and tracking is underway.

Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan said, “Genome sampling of as many as 489 samples including 276 sent in April, 100 in May and 113 in June were still pending with the central lab. She also clarified that the Delta Plus variant was found in samples sent by the state govt in May, whose results were given by Centre labs recently.”

In an attempt to stop the spread of the new COVID variant, the Punjab CM has ordered fast-tracking of the establishment of the Whole Genome Sequencing Lab at GMCH Patiala, in association with the international non-profit organization PATH. He has also ordered an intensification of genome sequences of cases reported from clusters in limited geographical, institutional, or superspreader event areas to check the spread of the potential third wave. 

Reviewing the preparations of the possible third wave of COVID-19, the Chief Minister has directed the Health and Medical Education departments to scale up testing. Meanwhile, Punjab Health Minister Balbir Sindhu suggested keeping a close watch on the people coming from countries which have reported cases of Delta Plus variant.

The State Health Department should continue to prioritize the Lok Sanjhedari model so that there is community ownership and a sustained campaign to observe Covid appropriate behavior, said the Chief Minister.

COVID-19 situation in Punjab

Punjab has so far recorded over 5,95,136 positive cases, out of which, 5,75,486 have successfully recovered and 16,011 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the past 24 hours, 253 new cases, 614 fresh recoveries, and 20 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active COVID cases in the state is 3,639. 

As far as the vaccination tally of the state is concerned, over 62,60,718 doses of the COVID vaccine have been administered, out of which, 52,65,532 are the first doses and 9,95,186 are the second doses. 

(Image: PTI, Unsplash)