NEW DELHI, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chief Minister of the northern Indian state of Punjab Amarinder Singh Tuesday ordered restriction on indoor as well as outdoor gatherings from next month amid growing concerns over the spike in COVID-19 cases, officials said.
According to officials, the decision was taken during a review meeting chaired by Singh.
As per the new order indoor gatherings will be restricted to 100 people and outdoor ones have to be limited to 200 persons.
"Chaired a high-level meeting to review COVID-19. Urge all to wear masks and maintain social distancing. From 1st March indoor gatherings will be restricted to 100 and outdoor to 200," Singh in a statement said. "If needed deputy commissioners can impose night curfew. Nodal teachers will enforce safety protocols among students."
The Chief Minister has also ordered daily COVID-19 testing capacity to be increased to 30,000 tests per day.
Punjab is one of the six states that have seen an upsurge in COVID-19 cases in the past few days.
The health ministry Tuesday said the total number of cases COVID-19 cases in Punjab is 178,847 and death toll due to the ongoing pandemic in the state is 5,769.
Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country has reached 11,016,434 and the death toll has risen to 156,463, the ministry said. Enditem
