Punjab coronavirus cases spike to 3,267 — 127 new cases, 4 deaths reported on June 15

• Punjab reported 127 new coronvirus cases on June 15.
• The total number of positive infections now stand at 3,267 in the state, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Punjab government has imposed stricter guidelines for weekends and public holidays, adding that only those with e-passes will be allowed to move out.

On June 15, Punjab reported 127 new COVID cases, taking the total number of infections in the state to 3,267, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. While four people died due to coronavirus in Amritsar. The recent cases have been reported in Ludhiana, Jaladhar and Amritsar.


Given the sudden spike in the positive cases, the Punjab government imposed stricter guidelines in the state on weekends and public holidays, adding that only those with e-passes will be allowed to move out. Moreover, the people coming from the national capital will have to provide testing certification before entering the state, said the state Chief Minister Amrinder Singh.

On June 10, Singh allowed the religious places including gurudwara in the state to not just open but also restart the distribution of prasad and langar among people.

“It has now been decided to allow community kitchens (langar) and serving of prasad at religious places, subject to the condition that physical distancing norms and all COVID hygiene precautions while preparing and distributing food shall be strictly followed," Mint reported citing the official announcement said.

Given the surge in the coronavirus cases in the state, Punjab has aggressively ramped up the testing capacity. According to the state Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, over 1 lakh samples have been tested so far and the state is now testing 3,259 per million. That is equivalent to 4,500 tests per day and higher than the country's average at 3,046.

“Punjab has completed testing of over 1,00,000 samples for COVID-19,” Indian Express reported citing the health minister.

Meanwhile, the state has recorded the highest COVID-19 recovery rate in the country — at 91%. In addition, the critical mortality rate in the state is also the lowest at 1.3%. According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total count of those cured reached to 2,000.

On May 30, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh extended the lockdown till June 30 . However, the state government has eased the lockdown norms, in line with the guidelines by the central government.

As per the state orders, the local shops including liquor and barber shops, beauty parlours and spa will be open in the non-containment zones, starting today. While the defined guidelines for hotels, hospitality services, shopping malls, places of worship, and restaurants will be announced soon.

However, Singh strictly said that the residents will have to follow the COVID safety protocols including social distancing and wearing of masks. He said that the government will ensure that the masks are supplied as a part of the ration kits for those who can't afford to buy them.

The state government has collected over ₹1 crore as fine so far - from people who were not wearing masks.

According to Anurag Agarwal, Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare, of the 40 deaths, most of the senior citizens had serious illness like kidney diseases, HIV and high blood pressure, IANS reported.

However, the pandemic is showing no signs of dying down. The total number of infections rose to 2,233 in Punjab, as on June 1. As many as 25 fresh COVID-19 cases were reported on Tuesday (May 26). According to IANS, Amritsar has reported the maximum number of COVID-19 cases in the state, followed by Jalandhar and Ludhiana.

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