Night curfew extended by 2 hrs in nine Punjab districts

Chandigarh, March 18

Terming the spread of Covid-19 in Punjab as alarming, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today announced two-hour extension in the night curfew in the state’s nine worst-affected districts.

The night curfew will now be in place from 9 pm to 5 am, instead of 11 pm to 5 am, in Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Ropar. The announcement came as Punjab’s daily cases shot up to 2,387 with 32 deaths on Wednesday.

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“It won’t be easy on the people. They may not like it, but it’s my duty,” the CM said, adding that he hoped the daily caseload won’t cross 3,000, as projected by some experts. The CM hoped the Centre would accept his suggestion on opening up the vaccination drive to younger people in the worst-hit areas and also to all those in public dealing. Several other stringent measures, including restrictions on gatherings, would be announced after discussions with the Covid team over the next couple of days, he said.

Regarding a question on Himachal Pradesh CM’s statement seeking curbs on people coming from Punjab for pilgrimage and religious purposes, Captain Amarinder said he was not in favour of restricting such movement. “But the Covid problem needs to be controlled, and an appropriate decision will be taken when we get a formal letter from the HP CM on the issue,” he said. — TNS