Vikrant Shekhawat : Sep 10, 2021, 06:14 PM
Chandigarh: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday ordered an extension of the existing Covid-19 restrictions till September 30. The decision has been taken in view of the upcoming festival season.While confirming the decision, the Punjab Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said that public gatherings, including political, will be capped at a maximum of 300 persons.Strict enforcement of the wearing of masks as well as social distancing will be implemented across the state.The CMO also confirmed that the Punjab government employees failing to take even the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine for any reason other than medical will be compulsorily sent on leave after September.Meanwhile, the daily increase in the number of Covid cases and deaths remains relatively less in Punjab as the state reported two fatalities and 29 new infections on Thursday.Following the new data, the total number of cases in Punjab has crossed 6 lakh while 16,451 people have succumbed to the deadly infection.Yesterday, Mohali reported seven cases, followed by four each in Barnala and Pathankot. The number of active cases in the state was 320.Twenty-three people recovered from the infection, taking the number of those who have been cured to 5,84,169, as per the bulletin.Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, reported four cases, taking the UT's infection count to 65,142.With one more death, the toll reached 816.The number of active cases in the city was 28 while the number of cured persons was 64,298, a bulletin said.