The Chandigarh administration on Monday extended the coronavirus-induced restrictions till the morning of June 9, but allowed more relaxations such as reopening of barbers and salons. It also extended the shop opening time by an hour.
All shops will now be allowed to open from 9 am till 4 pm, from earlier till 3 pm. "After detailed discussions, it was decided to continue the existing restrictions until 6 am on June 9,” according to an official statement. The decision was taken in a Covid-19 review meeting chaired by Chandigarh Administrator VP Singh Badnore.
All sports facilities will be opened for sportspersons who can utilise the infrastructure by strictly following Covid protocol. However, swimming pools and gyms will continue to remain closed. The administration also allowed reopening of barbers and salons in the city. Spa and massage centres will continue to remain closed.
The city has been witnessing a decline in the number of fresh Covid-19 infections over the last 20 days. In the review meeting, the administrator expressed concern over the plight of the children who lost their parents to Covid-19. Badnore directed that the school fees of all such children be waived and if any child needs accommodation in the administration's welfare home, it will be provided free of cost.
He also directed the Social Welfare Secretary to prepare a comprehensive scheme in consultation with the sub-committee of the Administrator's Advisory Council so that the affected could be fully rehabilitated. Moreover, UT Administrator allowed the Mini Covid Care centres to operate till end June.
PGIMER ASKED TO CARRY OUT SERO-SURVEY IN CHD
The UT Administrator gave PGIMER the go-ahead to carry out sero-survey in Chandigarh. The sero survey is aimed at identifying the sero prevalence of Covid-19 at the community level and monitoring the transmission trends. The survey will reveal antibodies developed against the virus in the samples tested amongst a sizable population of the city, said Dr Jagat Ram, adding that the survey will find out how many people from the general population (those vaccinated or infected) have developed antibodies.
“The survey will be carried out to find out how many people from the general population (those vaccinated or those infected with the virus or those asymptomatic) have developed antibodies. It will also reveal whether herd immunity has been achieved or not,” he added.
AT 124, CHANDIGARH'S DAILY COVID CASES DROP TO LOWEST IN 10 WEEKS
Continuing its steep decline in Covid-19 spread, Chandigarh on Monday recorded the lowest daily cases in the past 10 weeks as 124 people tested positive. The City had recorded an all-time high of 895 on May 9. However, there was no respite in fatalities as the pandemic claimed eight more lives on Monday, pushing the city’s toll to 753.
124 fresh Covid-19 cases took the union territory's infection tally to 60,046, according to a medical bulletin. The number of active cases dropped to 1767 on Monday. The total number of cured persons in Chandigarh reached 57,526 as 483 more coronavirus patients were discharged after they recovered from the infection, it said. So far, 508,469 samples have been taken for testing. In addition, 5745 more people were vaccinated on Monday, taking the total count to 349, 045, the bulletin stated.