No lockdown extension in Punjab, COVID-19 testing to be increased to 20,000 per day

Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Monday said that with the addition of four new testing labs the state's testing capacity will be increased to 20,000 per day by July end and ruled out an extension of lockdown in Punjab.

"There were 5,216 confirmed corona cases, of which 133 deaths had been reported. He said as many as 23 patients were in High Dependency Unit (HDU) and seven critically ill-patients on ventilators. He also informed that the COVID testing capacity would be enhanced to 20,000 per day by July end with four new testing labs, which was at present around 10,000 per day," according to a release.

There would be no further lockdown, he said while appealing to the people to strictly adhere to the safety protocols and save themselves and their families.

He also said that the state had adequate essential equipment to manage any further spread of the pandemic.

The Chief Minister said that in the first stage, 4,248 beds in government hospitals had been set aside, with another 2014 now being added, while the private hospitals had allocated 950 beds for COVID patients. The total number of isolation centres identified to accommodate a large number of cases if the crisis aggravates stands at 52 government and 195 private, he said.

( With inputs from ANI )