Seriously thinking of Lockdown extension but final decision at Cabinet Meet – Capt Amarinder

SAYS Rs. 15000 CR not enough for whole Nation to Tackle Covid-19 

Chandigarh/New Delhi, April 10 (Punjab Post Bureau) – Even as he said that the State Cabinet later today would take the final decision on extension of lockdown, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday indicated that his government was seriously thinking of extending the lockdown as the time did not appear to be right for lifting the restrictions.

            However, he made it clear that since the lockdown could not be indefinite, the government was also looking for ways to extricate the state from the restrictions and enable it to function with the Coronavirus around. A high-powered committee with several doctors, medical and other experts, was examining the situation and will soon submit its report on the lockdown exit strategy, said the Chief Minister.

            Given the projections for India and the global trend of COVID-19, this is just the start of the war and the situation threatens to get worse over the next few months for India, Captain Amarinder warned, adding that lifting the lockdown would not be easy for any state in the present situation.

            Pointing out that most of the 27 positive cases reported on Thursday (the maximum daily increase for the state) were cases of secondary transmission, the Chief Minister described it as an indication of the state moving into the stage of community transmission. The situation could seriously worsen in the coming weeks, he added. “The predictions are horrendous, but we are doing our best,” he said.

            At a video conference with the media, hosted by the AICC from New Delhi, the Chief Minister said the projections by scientists and medical experts suggested that the pandemic would peak in India by July-August, and around 58% of Indians would get infected, with 87% of people likely to get affected in Punjab. In the circumstances, no government could afford to ease the restrictions, he said, asserting that “we have to check the spread of the infections.”, he added.

            The Chief Minister rejected as absolutely insufficient the Rs 15000 crore announced yesterday by the Union Government for the nation’s health infrastructure, saying, “How can this be enough for the nearly 1.4 billion people of India?” No state has the resources needed to fight the battle without the help of the Central Government.

            With regard to testing, the Chief Minister admitted that the 2877 tests conducted so far were simply not enough, given Punjab’s population of 2.8 crore. Testing was constraint as only two hospitals in Punjab were given permission to test initially, along with PGI Chandigarh, but one more was now being added along with two private labs, he added. With 25000 Rapid Testing Kits also expected to arrive, mass testing in hotpots will also begin from Monday, he said.

            On the contribution of Tablighi Jamaat to the spread of the pandemic in Punjab, the Chief Minister revealed that his government had received a list of 651 who had entered the state, and of these, 636 had so far been traced and 27 found positive (including 10 contacts of these TJ Nizamuddin attendees).

            Among the nearly 1.5 lakh NRIs and foreign returnees, the state had traced and quarantined the majority, said Captain Amarinder, adding that the quarantine period was over in 33166 cases of foreign travel.

            Replying to questions on the harvesting of wheat, scheduled to begin on April 15, the Chief Minister said the state was gearing up to handle another bumper harvest and would be going in for district wise and village wise marketing/procurement. The number of Mandis from 1800 to 3800 this year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.