Punjab’s New Lockdown Rules, Meghalaya Closes Borders For 1 Week Every Month As COVID-19 Cases Rise

Punjab has ordered a daily night curfew, from 7 pm to 5 am, starting August 21, 2020. A weekend curfew has also been imposed in all 167 cities and towns in the state, as part of a strict response to the worrying surge in COVID-19 cases. People will have to adhere to the measures till August 31. He called for "war-like preparedness" to deal with the spike in coronavirus cases. "Enough is enough. We need to be tough without affecting the state's economy," the Chief Minister said, adding that each of the more than 900 COVID-linked deaths in the state "pains me". The measures were announced after a serological survey of the five worst-hit districts - Amritsar, Ludhiana, SAS Nagar, Patiala and Jalandhar. The survey, conducted between August 1 and 17, revealed that 27.7 per cent of all people in containment zones in these districts had been exposed to the virus. Meanwhile, Meghalaya will close its borders for one week every month, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said on August 20. In a tweet, CM Conrad Sangma said the closure of borders for seven days will continue for three months starting September. The number of cases in India has reached 28,36,926 with 53,866 deaths being reported. The worst affected state in the country, Maharashtra reported its highest single-day spike of 14,492 coronavirus cases on August 20. Maharashtra now has 6,43,289 cases, the state health department said. The death of 326 patients took the count to 21,359, it said.