Punjab extends covid-19 curbs, schools, colleges to remain shut till April 10

Chandigarh, Mar 30: The Punjab government on Tuesday extended restrictions to tackle coronavirus with schools and colleges to remain shut for another 10 days.

On March 19, the Punjab government had ordered the closure of educational institutes besides gathering restrictions till the month-end.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordered that all restrictions that are in place till March 31, will now remain in force till April 10, according to a statement.

Meanwhile, the central government hit out at the Punjab government over the surge in Covid-19 cases in the state. The Centre said the state has neither been able to test adequate number of people for Covid-19, nor is it being able to isolate the infected people.

Addressing a press conference on India's Covid-19 situation, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said Punjab currently has 24,143 active Covid-19 cases.

"In February, the average number of daily cases in Punjab was 240. Today, this number has risen to 2,742 cases per day. This shows that adequate number of tests are not being done, nor are they (state government) able to promptly track and isolate infected people," Rajesh Bhushan said.

Punjab is among the top five states that have shown a high case positive rate over the past one month.