Punjab announces Unlock 3 guidelines: All you need to know

Chandigarh, July 31: The Punjab government on Friday issued Unlock 3.0 guidelines and mandates night curfew from 11pm to 5am in the state. Gyms and yoga institutes to open on August 5.

As many as 5,50,150 people have been fined for violation of the COVID guidelines.

The chief minister expressed concern over the rising death toll due to the disease and called for concerted efforts to bring down the fatality rate.

The DCs of some of the worst affected districts, including Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Mohali, briefed the meeting on the situation in their respective regions and the measures being taken to monitor, track, test and treat COVID-19 patients.

The state currently has 64 micro-containment zones, of which 16 are in Jalandhar.

The government on Thursday also deputed 22 IAS, IFS and PCS officers as COVID Patient Tracking Officers (CPTOs), amid the rising number of coronavirus cases in the state.

Mahajan said the state government has designated these officers as CPTOs to ensure coordination and expeditious response at district level by tracking patients from the time they test positive till the completion of their treatment.

These officers will perform their role as CTPOs in addition to their current duties and will report to the deputy commissioners concerned, she said in an official release here.

The CPTOs should ensure that they receive details of each COVID patient as soon as the result is declared by the lab, the chief secretary said, adding that they should also follow up with the labs to ensure that there is no undue delay in sharing of the results.

The CPTOs shall ensure that each positive patient is brought to the nearest health facility so that their medical condition can be assessed, and the future course of treatment finalised.

Mahajan said the CPTOs will be authorised to exercise their judgment and incur any expenditure required to save lives in consultation with deputy commissioners.

The CPTOs should have a full list of availability of beds and ventilators in COVID Care Centres, and government and private hospitals.

They should also have details of ambulance service providers, she said.

The chief secretary stressed that the CPTOs will ensure that each patient under home isolation is tele-monitored on a daily basis.

The telephone number of the district control room should be shared with the patient in case of any emergency referral.

The CPTOs will ensure that in case of death of a COVID patient, the cremation or burial is done as soon as possible as per the state protocol, she said.