Punjab becomes second state after Odisha to extend lockdown till April 30
This decision to extend lockdown comes at a time when Punjab is seeing a rapid rise in the number of COVID-19 cases that has already crossed the 100 mark in the state
FollowChandigarh: The Punjab government became the second state after Odisha to extend the coronavirus lockdown till April 30 as announced on Friday.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the council of ministers here.
“PUNJAB CABINET @capt_amarinder UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES EXTENSION OF PUNJAB CURFEW/ LOCKDOWN till 30 April, 2020/1st May, 2020. Extension by 21 days from today. Strict enforcement (sic),” special chief secretary KBS Sidhu tweeted.
"A high-powered committee with several doctors, medical and other experts, was examining the situation and will soon submit its report on the lockdown exit strategy," the chief minister said.
He also said that the government was looking for ways to extricate the state from the restrictions and enable it to function with the coronavirus around.
"The decision was taken at a meeting of the council of ministers, chaired by chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh, to check community spread of the coronavirus pandemic and to prevent overcrowding at the Mandis in the light of the ensuing wheat harvesting/procurement season," the government said in a press statement.
It said chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh will communicate the decision to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the chief ministers' virtual conference on Saturday.
Punjab has seen a spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the past few days, pushing the total count to 132 so far with 11 deaths.
The confirmed cases in India jumped to 6761 as the death toll crossed 200 in India. According to the health ministry 515 have recovered from the deadly illness.
