Punjab lifts weekend restrictions, night curfew

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has ordered weekend restrictions and night curfew orders to be lifted in the state for the first time in over two months—a development that comes as the state’s positivity rate slides down to a new low of 0.4 per cent.

A new order from the chief minister on Friday eases the restrictions put on social gatherings and allows up to 100 people for indoor functions and 200 for outdoor events from Monday. The chief minister also ordered Punjab’s Director General of Police Dinkar Gupta to order challans to be issued to political leaders violating Covid protocols while holding rallies and protests.

Bars, cinema halls, restaurants, spas, swimming pools, malls, museums, zoos, and sports complexes will now open but staff and patrons must have taken at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Schools will continue to remain closed, but colleges, coaching centres, and all other institutions of higher learning will open provided that they submit a certificate that says that all teaching, non-teaching staff, and students have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine no less than two weeks ago.

The situation will be reviewed again on July 20, the chief minister said as he held a virtual meeting.

Punjab lifts weekend restrictions, night curfew

Mask mandate continues to remain firmly in force, as do other Covid-19 protocols, he said.

Punjab’s Health Secretary Hussan Lal said four districts showed positivity of 1 per cent or less in the state but also advised caution in districts like Ludhiana, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Firozpur, and Ropar.

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