Amid rising number of COVID-19 cases in Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered night curfew from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. in the worst-affected cities of Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Patiala from Saturday, while directing all big cities and towns to prepare integrated management plan for treatment of the disease at both government and private facilities.
Mask wearing drive
The Chief Minister also announced a week-long trial of enforcement of the mandatory mask wearing rule by making offenders stand at the spot for an hour with a mask on.
At a live session on Facebook, Capt. Amarinder expressed concern over the steady rise in virus cases.
Meanwhile, in a biggest single-day spike, the State recorded 1,063 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and reported 23 more deaths, taking the toll to 539, according to an official statement.
The number of positive cases has reached 21,930. The major chunk of new cases, 296 and 122, were reported from Ludhiana and Patiala districts respectively.
The health department said active cases were 7,351 and 14,040 patients have recovered so far.
In Haryana, 751 new cases surfaced on Friday, taking the total number of cases to 40,054. The State also reported nine deaths, taking the tolly to 467.
The major chunk of new cases were reported from Faridabad and Ambala districts.
The active cases are 6,143 and 33,444 patients have recoveredso far, a statement said.
