All district hospitals in the state have been instructed to set up ICUs. 50 new ventilators have also been acquired to meet the demand.
The premises of the Harmandir Sahib, also known as the Golden Temple gurdwara in Punjab's Amritsar was disinfected on Saturday in view of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak, which is spreading like wildfire in India.
The disinfection was carried out by the Punjab Fire Services as a preventive measure against the spread of the virus, news agencies reported.
Meanwhile, people in Chandigarh were seen queuing up in huge numbers outside essential commodity stores to purchase items like food grain, groceries, fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, and fish. After relaxing the curfew in the state a day earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh had said that all shops selling essential commodities will remain open from 10 AM to 6 PM daily until further orders.
Keeping in mind all sections of the society, the Punjab state government has also allowed municipal bodies to buy essential items for daily wagers and poor people as well as fodder for 'gaushalas' of municipal funds at their disposal.
In a slightly positive update, now new COVID-19 cases were reported from Punjab on Saturday, state Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu informed on this day, adding that all district hospitals in the state have been instructed to set up ICUs. 50 new ventilators have also been acquired to meet the demand.
On Friday, five confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in Punjab, taking the total number of patients tested positive for the infectious disease to 38 in the state.
In light of the heightened concern on the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in India, the country has been placed under complete lockdown for 21 days. Authorities have asked citizens to maintain strict social distancing to cut the spread of the virus outbreak.
As of 07:30 PM on Friday, around 918 people across India have been reported to have contracted the COVID-19 disease. The virus has affected around 614,884 people worldwide. The global death toll has hit 28,687.
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