Punjab extends lockdown till May 1 after a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases

• Punjab became the second state in India to officially extend the national lockdown by another 16 days.
  
• Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said the ongoing lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus will continue till May 1.
  
• Odisha is the first state to extend the lockdown till April 30.
  
  

Punjab became the second state in India to officially extend the national lockdown by another 17 days. The Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said the ongoing lockdown will continue till May 1 to contain the spread of coronavirus. Odisha was the first state to extend the lockdown till April 30.

There are, at present, 132 total cases of coronavirus in Punjab including five who recovered. As many as 11 people died from it. Punjab witnessed a spike in the coronavirus cases on April 9 with 24 people contracting it. The infection also reached 17 districts including Muktsar and Sangrur.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said earlier today that he will allow district-wise relief from lockdown only to farmers to allow them for the harvesting of Rabi crop. He said the state was expecting a bumper crop of 185 lakh tonnes of wheat and is making arrangements for harvesting.

He said predictions by health experts about the spread of the pandemic are "horrendous and frightening". Quoting a PGIMER study, he said the virus is likely to touch its peak by mid-September and may likely to affect 58% of India's population and 87% of it in Punjab.

(with PTI)
See also: Coronavirus cases in India rise