Covid-19: Hoshiarpur district logs 10 deaths, 259 fresh cases

Our Correspondent

Hoshiarpur, March 21

The district on Sunday reported 10 deaths due to Covid-19, pushing the toll to 453. Meanwhile, the district witnessed 259 fresh cases of infections, taking the tally to 11,664.

Giving information, Civil Surgeon Dr Ranjit Singh said on Sunday, the reports of 2,774 samples were received and out of them, 223 new cases were reported while 36 more patients were reported from other districts. The number of active cases stood at 1,765 while 10,167 patients recovered. Hoshiarpur city reported 24 new cases while the remaining ones were reported from various health blocks of the district.

Of the 10 deaths due to the virus reported today, five patients died at the Civil Hospital, Hoshiarpur, while three patients died at private hospitals in Jalandhar and one each died in Ludhiana and at Government Medical College, Amritsar.

More restrictions put in place

Seeing the spike in the number of Covid-19 cases, the district administration on Sunday issued orders of additional restrictions in compliance with the guidelines of the Punjab Government to break the Covid-19 transmission chain efficaciously.

As per the orders, the cinemas, multiplex, restaurants, etc, would remain closed on Sundays. However, home deliveries have been allowed at all times except during curfew hours. From March 27, one hour silence from 11 am to 12 pm to be observed on all Saturdays as a mark of respect to all those who died due to the virus. No vehicle would be allowed to ply on roads during that time. The situation would be reviewed after two weeks.

Issuing the orders, Additional District Magistrate-cum-Additional Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar Panchal said these additional restrictions would be implemented across the district. The orders stipulated that all educational institutions like schools and colleges would remain closed till March 31. However, the entire teaching and non-teaching staff should continue to attend their duties on all working days.

All medical and nursing colleges would remain open whereas 50 per cent seat occupancy in all cinema halls, theatres, multiplexes, etc, would be allowed. Besides, only 100 persons would be allowed in malls at one time. The night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am would strictly check non-essential activities. However, all essential activities, including operations of industry as well as ‘to and fro’ movement of passengers (travelling via air, trains, buses, etc) would be exempt from the curfew restrictions.

Any violation of these guidelines and the lockdown would be punishable under Sections 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal action under Section 188 of the IPC.