PUNJAB EASES CURBS AS COVID POSITIVITY FALLS TO 2%, CM ANNOUNCES OPENING OF RESTAURANTS, CINEMAS, GYMS ETC AT 50% CAPACITY
PUNJAB EASES CURBS AS COVID POSITIVITY FALLS TO 2%, CM ANNOUNCES OPENING OF RESTAURANTS, CINEMAS, GYMS ETC AT 50% CAPACITY
NO. OF PERSONS ALLOWED AT WEDDINGS/CREMATIONS INCREASED TO 50, BARS/CLUBS/AHATAS CONTINUE TO REMAIN CLOSED
NIGHT CURFEW TO REMAIN IN PLACE FROM 8 P.M.. TO 5 A.M., WEEKEND CURFEW FROM 8 P.M. SATURDAY TO 5 A.M. MONDAY
Chandigarh, June 15
With the state’s Covid positivity rate coming down to 2%, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday announced easing of the restrictions, allowing restaurants and other eating joints, as well as cinemas and gyms to open at 50% capacity beginning tomorrow. He also announced increase in gathering of people, including for weddings and cremations, to 50 persons.
Under the new guidelines, which will remain in effect till June 25 when they will be again reviewed, daily night curfew will be in place from 8 pm to 5 am, with weekend curfew from 8.00 pm on Saturday upto 5.00 am on Monday, across the state. However, all essential activities, including those covered under existing ‘Exemptions’, will remain unaffected, unhindered and exempted from curfew restrictions.
Chairing a high-level virtual Covid review meeting, the Chief Minister ordered opening of
all Restaurants (including in hotels), Cafes, Coffee Shops, fast food outlets, Dhabas etc., Cinemas, Gyms at maximum 50% of capacity, subject to all their employees having received at least one dose of vaccination. AC buses can also ply with 50% occupation.
Bars, Pubs and ‘Ahatas’ shall, however, continue to remain closed. All educational institutions i.e. schools and colleges will also continue to be closed.
District Authorities have been asked to determine opening timings of non-essential shops, including on Sunday, on the basis of the local situation, while ensuring that crowds are avoided. District Authorities shall also continue to ensure strict implementation of all the extant directives of MHA/State Government on Covid appropriate behaviour, including social/physical distancing, wearing of face masks etc, directed the Chief Minister.
The announcements came as Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan, citing a University of Cambridge Judge Business School report of June 14, on Growth of Infection in Punjab, told the meeting that based on its findings, all districts are on downward trajectories for new cases. “The estimated trend value of the daily growth rate was -9.2% as of 14 June 2021. This implies that reported new cases will halve in 7 days, under the assumption that the growth rate remains constant. As of 14 June 2021, the estimated Reproduction number Rt for Punjab stood at 0.69, significantly below one. Newly reported COVID-19 cases are likely to decline to about 210 per day by 28 June 2021,” she added.
Further, said Vini, while numbers of cases are low, there are indications that the growth rates of cases, while negative, have recently reversed direction from their downward paths in Fazilka, Jalandhar, and Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar. The projected number of deaths by 28th June stand at 21.
The state had hit its second wave peak on May 8, with 9100 cases, which had come down to a low of 629 on June 14.
Giving details of curfew exemptions, an official spokesperson later said that the following activities/establishments shall, subject to observing Covid appropriate behaviour by all concerned, remain exempted from Covid restrictions.
* (i) Hospitals, veterinary hospitals and all establishments, both in public and private sector, related to manufacture and supply of all medicines and medical equipment. Including the manufacturing & distribution units such as dispensaries, chemist & pharmacy(including Jan Aushadhi Kendras), laboratories, pharmaceutical research labs, clinics, nursing homes, ambulances etc. Transportation of all personnel of these establishments shall be allowed subject, however, to production of identity cards.
* (ii) Shops dealing with supply of essential goods, milk, dairy and poultry products like bread, eggs, meat etc and vegetables, fruits etc.
* (iii) Shops/establishments selling industrial materials including raw materials, intermediaries as well as shops/establishments engaged in export and import activities.
* (iv) Activities /establishments related to fisheries such as fish, meat and its products including supply of fish seeds
* (v) To and fro’ movement of passengers travelling by air, trains and buses on production of travel documents. Inter and intra state movement of all vehicles/persons carrying essential and non-essential goods.
* (vi) Delivery of all essential goods including food, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment etc. through E-Commerce.
* (vii) Construction activities in both urban and rural areas.
* (viii) Agricultural including procurement, horticultural, animal husbandry and veterinary services.
* (ix) Vaccinations out-reach camps.
* (x) Activities of Manufacturing industry, Commercial & Private establishments and services given below including movement of all their employees/workers and vehicles carrying them upon production of requisite permission from their employers :
* a) Telecommunication, internet services, broadcasting and cable services. IT and IT enabled services.
* b) Delivery of all essential goods including food, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment etc. through E-Commerce.
* c) Petrol pumps and petroleum products, LPG, petroleum and gas retail and storage outlets, coal, firewood and other fuels.
* d) Power generation, transmission and distribution units and services.
* e) Cold storage and warehousing services.
* f) Private security services
* g) Farming operations by farmers and farm workers in the field.
* h) All Banking/RBI services, ATMs, Cash Vans and cash handling/ distribution services.
*PUNJAB CM ASKS EXPERT PANEL TO STUDY EFFECTIVENESS OF VACCINES IN CONTEXT OF NEW COVID VARIANTS*
ORDERS SCALE-UP OF PREPARATION FOR 3RD WAVE AMID INCREASE IN DELTA & BRAZIL VARIANT CASES
Chandigarh, June 15:
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday directed the Expert Group headed by Dr Gagandeep Kang to start studying the effectiveness of vaccines in the context of the new variants of the coronavirus.
The month wise whole genome sequencing has shown that while in the month of March, 95% of the problem was due to the UK variant, in April 2021, the Delta variant starting increasing and by May it had become dominant, reaching nearly 90%, he said. It was also a matter of concern that the Brazil Variant (B1) had increased from 1 % in April and now stood at 8%, said the Chief Minister at the Covid review meet.
He underlined the need to get more samples analysed to have a clear picture and formulate a proper strategy. The state’s advisor Dr KK Talwar said an expert group was being constituted to analyse the audit of patients who had been on ventilator during the 2nd wave to provide learnings for the future.
Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan disclosed that Dr Talwar was trying to arrange for genome sampling in Patiala’s Rajindra Hospital.
The Chief Minister also ordered tracking of all Black Fungus (Mucormycosis) cases, which currently stand at 441 cases in the state. Of these, which 51 have already been cured and 308 are undergoing treatment, the meeting was informed. Of the 441 total cases, 388 were from Punjab and the remaining from other states, Health Secretary Hussan Lal told the meeting. There is an adequate supply of drugs for treatment of the disease, he added.
Calling for timely preventive steps against a possible third wave of Covid, through identification of early signs, the Chief Minister directed the Health and Medical Education departments to continue testing at about 50,000 a day. Contact tracing and testing must be maintained at 15 per positive patient, he said, while also stressing the need to strengthen the monitoring and management of Home Isolation cases.
The Chief Minister ordered steps to ensure adequate supplies of testing kits, medicines, Fateh kits etc, with proper healthcare services to be maintained, especially in rural areas and small towns. “We should consider placing Fateh kits in each Health and Wellness Centre and other facilities, to ensure timely availability,” he added.
The Corona Mukt Pendu Abhiyan must continue in full force, said Captain Amarinder, noting that almost 1.6 Crore individuals (38 lakh households) had already been screened under the campaign, which had resulted in identification of 6982 positive patients, who have been assisted as per protocols. He, however, asked the concerned officials to ensure that the thikri pehras and other enforcement measures are in place to ensure that positivity in these areas is contained. The strategy of micro-containment without stigmatising must be continued, he stressed.
The Chief Minister also directed the departments to expedite recruitments to ensure adequate manpower, backed by timely increase of capacity, and strengthening of care programme in all L2 / L3 facilities in both, Public and Private sectors (particularly in districts with high CFR). The state should prepare for 25% more beds than in the second wave, he said. He asked the Health Department to use the gap between the second and third waves to train specialists, especially in areas of shortage, such as in Life Saving Anaesthesia Skills.
He also expressed appreciation for Dr KK Talwar and his team for the brainstorming sessions they have been holding with Indian and international experts for continuous improvements to tackle the pandemic.
