Punjab government imposes night curfew in Amritsar amid rising COVID-19 cases

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Amritsar: In the view of rising COVID-19 infections in the city, Amritsar authorities on Thursday (March 18) have imposed a night curfew as a precautionary measure against the spread of the virus. The orders came on the same day when the city reported 230 fresh cases of COVID-19.

"The Chief Minister has ordered a curfew in the city between 11 pm and 5 am," said Parvesh Chopra, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Central).

Ahead of upcoming festivals including Holi, shopkeepers in Amritsar said their businesses are adversely affected due to rising cases of COVID-19 in the area. 

On the other hand the state overall reported 2,387 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, as per state health department bulletin on Thursday.

Earlier, Jalandhar District Collector Ghanshyam Thori and Ludhiana District Collector Varinder Sharna also imposed a night curfew in the respective districts on Thursday. 

The night curfew will remain in place from 9 pm to 5 am until further orders by the authorities. With the fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the cumulative caseload in the state now stands at 2,05,418.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday extended the night curfew in nine worst hit districts by two hours daily, by advancing it from 9 p.m. onwards. The nine districts where the night curfew has been extended were Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Patiala, Mohali, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Ropar, all daily getting 100 plus positive cases.