In a bid to prohibit public gathering in the wake of COVID-19 scare, the Punjab government on Tuesday issued directions to close down all shopping complexes, malls, museums, local weekly ‘kisan mandis’ till March 31.
An advisory has been issued to all religious institutions, Dera (sect) heads to postpone their religious congregations. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Group of Ministers held under the chairmanship of Local Bodies Minister Brahm Mohindra here.
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As per the advisory issued by the Centre, the GoM has also decided to restrict the gathering at marriage functions, said an official statement. Directions have been issued to Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to ensure that the gathering at any function in marriage halls must not increase beyond 50 persons.
The DCs will also ensure that all restaurants, hotels, dhabas and food courts are implementing hand washing protocol and proper cleanliness of frequently touched surfaces, besides ensuring physical distancing of 1 metre between persons and tables, it added.
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“All shopping complexes and malls, cinemas would be closed in the State till March 31, but chemists and grocery shops in malls have been exempted from the shutdown. All the local weekly kisan mandis have been closed in a bid to restrict people to gather in large numbers at one place,” said the statement.
The GoM also directed the School Education department and administrative bodies of other private educational institutes to postpone the examinations. “In case there is dire need of conducting the examinations, the particular institute and school would inform the district administration and would also ensure that one metre distance is maintained between two students,” according to the statement.
