Amritsar residents seal entry points to keep virus at bay

Tribune News Service
Amritsar, April 6

Amid the rising Covid threat, many city residents are sealing their areas and barring entry of outsiders by installing makeshift barricades. They rue that people were not following the curfew guidelines seriously and were continuing to defy the restrictions despite repeated notifications by the government and the administration.

District Development and Panchayat Officer Gurpreet Singh Gill said people from rural areas were religiously adhering to the call of curfew to stop the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. He said out of 840 villages in the district 250 villages had isolated themselves. He said youth squads from these villages had sealed the entry and exit points of their villages and medicines and fodder in these villages were supplied by the police.

Fatehgarh Sukkarchak village Sarpanch Pardeep Singh Ladda said two vegetable vendors and a fruit vendor had been permitted to sell their merchandise in a village. Several committees have been formed at village-level to effectively implement isolation of the areas.

Civil Surgeon Dr Prabhdeep Kaur Johal said people related to essential services and jobs should strictly abide by precautionary measures recommended to avoid any infection. “People must practice social distancing at their offices and shops,” she said adding that it should be practiced at essential items’ shops, banks and other such public places to prevent the spread of the pandemic.