Punjab govt extends lockdown till June 30 with relaxations subject to Centre's guidelines

On Saturday, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh announced a 4-week extension of the lockdown in Punjab, till June 30, with more relaxations, subject to the guidelines of the central government. This comes after the Centre on Saturday, announced nationwide lockdown in containment zones till June 30. The Centre has also announced that the re-opening of the country amid the lockdown will be done in phases. 

The Chief Minister announced his decision through a video conference with health experts, along with top officials and Cabinet Ministers Bharat Bhushan Ashu, Balbir Singh Sidhu and Tript Singh Bajwa after an on-ground assessment of the COVID situation. 

READ: Centre extends nationwide Coronavirus lockdown till June 30; phase-wise reopening planned

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Highlighting the need to continue to exercise extreme caution, he hailed the citizens for following all health norms to help the state government in controlling the pandemic spread to a great extent. However, he asserted that the extension of the lockdown in Punjab would be conditional to strict adherence to COVID safety protocols, including physical distancing and the wearing of masks.

Furthermore, the Chief Minister also ordered distribution of free masks to the poor. He directed Food and Civil Supplies Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu to ensure immediate steps for the distribution of masks as part of ration kits to the needy and poor, who could not afford to purchase them. DGP Dinkar Gupta told in the review Video Conference that wearing of masks was being strictly enforced across districts, with more than Rs 1 crore collected so far in a fine from the offenders.

The Chief Minister sought an update during the meeting on the state government’s plans for the launch of home surveillance and COVID Foot Soldiers deployment to track and trace infections. He was informed by Anurag Agarwal, Principal Secretary (Health & Family Welfare) that both would be launched over the next couple of days. Asha workers and other local women from the community were being hired to undertake home to home surveillance across districts, and they would be paid Rs 2 per head in every household surveyed, he said.  Additionally, for tracing the symptomatic cases, an app was currently being field-tested and would be launched in 2-3 days. 

READ: Coronavirus Live Updates: Centre extends lockdown till June 30; active cases at 86,422

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