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Punjab imposes night curfew, doubles fine for flouting Covid guidelines
25-November-2020

Amid spiralling COVID-19 cases, the Punjab government on Wednesday decided to impose night curfew in all the towns and cities from December 1. The restrictions will remain in place for seven hours between 10 pm and 5 am.

The state government has also doubled the fine for flouting Covid-19 guidelines to Rs 1,000. The decision was taken at a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh.

"Night curfew to be imposed in Punjab from December 1 to fight coronavirus," Amarinder Singh said.

The curbs, which will be reviewed on December 15, also restrict operation timings for all hotels, restaurants and marriage palaces till 9.30 pm.

Several states have announced measures like night curfew and restriction on public gatherings in the last one week to flatten the Covid curve.

The states that have night curfew to control the spread of the disease are Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. The Himachal government has announced to close all schools and colleges till December 31 and imposed night curfew in the four worst-affected districts of Mandi, Kangra, Shimla and Kullu. In Madhya Pradesh, the state government has extended the night curfew to six cities -- Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore and Jabalpur.

Gujarat too has announced to impose night curfew in four major cities -- Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and Vadodara. In Rajasthan, the government has announced to impose night curfew in eight districts and clamped prohibitory orders under section 144 of CrPC in nearly 16 districts.

Punjab has reported a spurt in Covid cases in the last few weeks. According to the official data, the state saw 22 deaths on Tuesday, taking the death toll to 4,653. There are 6,834 active cases. The latest health bulletin said that 11 patients are on ventilator support, while 139 are on oxygen support. A total of 30,51,542 samples have been collected for testing so far in the state.