'Punjab moving towards community transmission', says CM Captain Amarinder Singh

Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday said that the State is moving into the stage of community transmission as 27 people, who were tested positive for coronavirus in the State, have no travel history. The community transmission stage, also known as Stage 3, is where the disease spreads in the population in such a way that the people don't know how they were exposed to the disease.

Expressing distress over the situation, Singh said that most of the 27 positive cases reported on Thursday, the maximum daily increase for the state, were the cases of secondary transmission.

"In Punjab, 27 cases are there with no travel history. Yes, it can be said that most of them are cases of community transmission," Chief Minister Singh said during the video conference with the media.

"It is an indication of the State moving into the stage of community transmission," Chief Minister Singh was quoted in an official statement issued after the video conference.

The Chief Minister further said that there are 132 confirmed coronavirus cases in Punjab and the toll in the State stands at 11. He further said that one patient is on the ventilator and two are in the pre-ventilator stage. Punjab has a total of 434 operational ventilators. Out of these, 76 operational ventilators are in government hospitals and 358 in private hospitals.

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Meanwhile, in a new initiative to carry out quick testing of people amid the rising COVID-19 cases, Sangrur in Punjab has come up with a 'walkthrough testing facility' taking a cue from a similar initiative in China's Wuhan. The testing pod is a quick walkthrough facility where doctors will stand behind a polycarbonate glass sheet taking the swabs of patients coming in. Through this method, both the doctor and the patient will be safe from unintended exposure to the virus. 

READ: Wearing face masks compulsory in Punjab now: CM Amarinder

COVID-19 cases in Punjab  

In the past few days, the state has witnessed a spike in the number of coronavirus cases. The Punjab government on Thursday made wearing face masks for people mandatory in public due to the COVID-19 outbreak. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh made this announcement on his Facebook page.

“Masks are compulsory in Punjab now. Health Secretary is issuing a detailed advisory for the people. Just remember to wear masks when you step out of home for any emergency/essentials. A piece of clean cloth is all you need. Let's all stay safe and fight #Covid_19 together,” posted the Punjab CM.

READ: Punjab builds walkthrough Covid testing facility in Sangrur, akin to China's Wuhan

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(With Inputs from ANI)