Night curfew in Punjab, Raipur declared a containment zone

Due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases Punjab, Karnataka and Chhattisgarh governments have imposed more restrictions to contain the virus. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Wednesday ordered the night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am.to the entire state. The Punjab government has also imposed a complete ban on political gatherings till April 30. Violators, including political leaders, will be booked under the Disaster Management Act and Epidemic Act, the state government said. Only 50 people will be allowed to attend funerals, cremations or weddings organised indoors. In the case of similar gatherings organised outdoors, the number of attendees has been capped at 100.No social, cultural or sports-related gatherings will be allowed in the state till April 30.

Cinema halls in Punjab have been directed to operate at 50 per cent capacity. In addition, the closure of schools and educational institutions, except medical and nursing colleges, will continue till April 30. The Punjab government has also made it mandatory for all government employees to wear face masks while in office. In-person public dealing shall be restricted in all government offices and virtual modes for grievance redressal shall be encouraged.  CM Amarinder Singh expressed concern about the high positivity and mortality rates in the state. He said it was cause for concern that over 85 per cent of cases in Punjab are of the UK strain, which is more contagious and virulent.The state government had no option but to go in for stricter measures to further control the ongoing surge, even though the number of positive cases had somewhat stabilized in the last few days due to curbs imposed earlier, CM Amarinder Singh said.

The Chhattisgarh government on Wednesday announced a complete lockdown in capital Raipur from April 9. The lockdown will remain in place till April 19. The entire Raipur district has been declared a containment zone in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases from 6pm on 9th April till 6am on 19th April. All the borders of the district will remain sealed during this period," Raipur district collector S Bharathi Dasan said. With the detection of 9,921 fresh cases on Tuesday, Chhattisgarh saw its highest single-day spike since the outbreak of the infection in March last year, taking the state's caseload to 3,68,269, as per official figures.The worst-hit Raipur and Durg districts accounted for 2,821 and 1,838 of the new cases, respectively. While the cumulative count of the infection in Raipur reached 76,427, including 1,001 deaths, Durg's caseload increased to 45,891, including 812 fatalities. The Covid-19 death toll in Chhattisgarh also rose to 4,416 as 53 more people succumbed to the disease on Tuesday. Meanwhile , the MP government has suspended bus operations with Chhattisgarh till April 15.

In Karnataka, the Bengaluru police banned the use of swimming pools, gyms, party halls, and other such amenities in apartment buildings within the city limits amid a worrying rise in cases of infection in the past few weeks. Gyms outside the city limits are allowed to operate at 50 per cent capacity. Kamal Pant, Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City on Wednesday ordered that restrictions under Section 144 of CrPC will be implemented in the city limits to contain the gathering of crowds.Karnataka state reported over 6,000 new Covid-19 infections on Tuesday, the highest single-day spike this year. Bengaluru is among India's 10 districts with the highest number of new cases, according to Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan statement on Tuesday The other cities are Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Nagpur, Nashik, Aurangabad, Ahmednagar, Delhi, and Durg..