In view of the Coronavirus outbreak in the country, the Chandigarh Administration on Monday decided to shut down cinema halls, shopping malls, gymnasiums, swimming pools, pubs, spa centres, video gaming centres and coaching centres till March 31.
Apart from this, a gathering of more than 100 people in any event, meeting or function including religious has been banned in the union territory of Chandigarh.
These decisions were taken at the meeting held under Punjab Governor and UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore on Monday to review the preparedness to deal with Coronavirus.
The Administration has also decided to declare masks and sanitisers as essential items till June 30 as done by Central Government. The move comes as panic buying by people has resulted in stocks of masks and sanitizers disappearing from the markets and being sold at exorbitant prices.
An offender under the Essential Commodities Act may be punished with an imprisonment upto 7 years or fine or both.
UT Adviser Manoj Parida while talking to the mediapersons said that the possibility of fixing the common price for masks and sanitisers will also be further explored. We have declared masks and sanitisers as essential items till June 30, he said.
Apart from this, the cinema halls, gymnasiums swimming pools, pubs, spa centres, video gaming centres, shopping mall and coaching centers in the city will be closed till March 31. However, the closure won’t apply to groceries and the medicine shops in malls in order to enable the people to meet their essential needs. The order will come into force with immediate effect, he added.
On allowing religious gatherings in the city, the Adviser said that Deputy Commissioner will hold a meeting with leaders of all religions to apprize them about today’s decision of not allowing gathering of more than 100 people.
When asked about IT companies in the city with more than 100 employees, Parida said that an appeal will be made to companies to encourage work from home for the employees.
Till Monday evening, no positive case of Coronavirus has been reported in the city.
120 isolation wards have been setup in all the major hospitals of Chandigarh. Quarantine Centres have also been prepared to deal with any situation, Parida added.
All the crèches functioning in the union territory will also remain close till March 31.
Also, as a precautionary measure, entry of visitors to the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary has also been prohibited with immediate effect till March 31.
Notably, the Administration had on March 13 ordered to shutdown all the government and private schools in the union territory till March 31. The Administration had also approved the notification under Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 under Section 2, 3 and 4 to enforce the preventive steps for control of COVID 19.
The notification empowers the Administration to inspect any suspected person travelling or otherwise, and the segregation, in hospital, temporary accommodation or otherwise to prevent the outbreak of the disease.