Punjab extends COVID-19 lockdown till July 10

Punjab government on Tuesday extended the lockdown in the state till July 10 but announced some relaxations in the state from July 1. As per the latest unlock guidelines, the bars, pubs and ‘ahatas’ will remain open at 50% capacity beginning from July 1“With the cases of Delta Plus variant coming to light, Punjab CM Captain Amarinder Singh on Tuesday ordered extension of Covid restrictions till July 10, with certain more relaxations, including opening of bars, pubs and ‘ahatas’ at 50% capacity, beginning July 1,” the Punjab CMO said in a statement.

On Friday, the state government had extended the lockdown till June 30 after reviewing the COVID situation in the state. The Punjab government had last week also relaxed some guidelines saying that the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) coaching institutes will reopen with the condition that their teachers, staff and students have had at least one vaccination shot. Notably, the IELTS is a global standardised test of English language proficiency for non-native English language speakers. Expressing satisfaction over the decline in the Covid positivity rate to less than 1 per cent, along with overall fall in the number of active cases, the Chief Minister noted that the positivity rate in some districts still remained over the 1 per cent mark.