Punjab CM Amarinder for strict checking of entrants from Delhi

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, June 13

Expressing serious concerns about the spread of Covid-19 in the state from those coming from outside, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday called for strict checking of entrants from other states, particularly Delhi, where cases were spiralling out of control.

He, however, made it clear that Punjabis were welcome to come to Delhi for Covid treatment in Punjab after getting their hospital beds reserved here on the recommendation of a Delhi hospital. The Chief Minister was responding to a question from a Punjab resident working in Delhi during his Facebook Live #AskCaptain session.

On the issue of sealing Punjab’s borders with other states, Amarinder said while Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh had sealed their borders with Punjab, people were coming from Haryana and Delhi every day in large numbers. On Friday alone, 6,500 vehicles entered Punjab from Delhi and Haryana, which translated into about 20,000 new people coming from these states on a single day.

His government was mulling ways to make entry norms more stringent, given the increasing number of positive cases in the state, said the Chief Minister.

Though the state was still performing relatively better than many others in the country, cases in Punjab were also continuing to spiral, necessitating tough measures, the Chief Minister said. While nobody likes restrictions, he had been forced to imposed weekend and holiday curbs to protect lives, he said, adding that restrictions on inter-state movement on these days were also intended to check unnecessary socialising.

Pointing to the spike of 117 cases in a single day in the state, the Chief Minister attributed the sharp rise to the influx of people into the state, which has witnessed the entry of as many as 43,000 people in just one month.

In addition to people landing in Amritsar from Dubai and other places, trains culminating in the historic city were also adding to the deluge of people, he said, adding that the three cities of Amritsar, Jalandhar and Ludhiana have seen the maximum cases. Restrictions were important to check the spread further to other districts such as Pathankot, Patiala and Gurdaspur, he added.