Punjab lifts weekend, night curfew, eases Covid-19 curbs

The Punjab government on Friday lifted the weekend and night curfew and eased Covid-19 curbs.

It allowed the gathering of 100 people in an indoor space and 200 people in an outdoor setting.

The government also allowed bars, gyms, cinema halls, restaurants, spas to reopen with staff and visitors having taken at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

Punjab registered 162 fresh Covid-19 cases, taking the infection tally to 5,97,347 on Friday, while the death toll rose to 16,168 after eight more patients succumbed to the disease, according to a medical bulletin.

Two deaths were recorded in Bathinda, while one each in Ferozepur, Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Ludhiana, Sangrur and Tarn Taran. The death toll also includes three fatalities which were not reported earlier.

The number of active cases stand at 1,809.

Of the fresh cases, Bathinda reported 19 infections, followed by 17 in Amritsar and 14 in Jalandhar, among others.

With 259 recoveries in the past 24 hours, the number of cured persons in the state reached 5,79,370, the bulletin said.

A total of 1,12,91,779 samples have been collected for testing so far in the state, it said.

Meanwhile, Chandigarh reported eight new cases of Covid-19,pushing the infection tally to 61,811.

With no new fatality in the Union Territory, the death toll stood at 809.

There are 101 active cases in the state, while 60,901 people have recovered from the infection.

A total of 5,81,225 samples have been taken for testing so far and of them, 5,18,145 tested negative while reports of seven samples are awaited, the bulletin added.

(With inputs from PTI)