Coronavirus pandemic could continue even beyond September, says Captain Amarinder Singh

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday asked all other states to adopt Punjab's model of COVID micro-containment and house-to-house surveillance strategy, which was helping the state successfully control the spread of coronavirus pandemic to a significant extent. The Prime Minister intervened as Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh was describing the state’s model to combat coronavirus and suggested that all states should follow the same strategic approach to effectively counter COVID-19. During the meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Punjab Chief Minister said that living with coronavirus was the new normal since the lockdown could not continue indefinitely as the cycle of the economy, once broken, takes a long time to restart. He further said that need of the hour was to take care of both lives and livelihoods, as the Prime Minister had himself said in his VC in April. During a Video Conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Punjab Chief Minister requested that the Centre should work closely with the states to ease the distress caused by the pandemic and the subsequent lockdown. Meanwhile, Captain Amarinder Singh also recalled that when, in early April, he had said that coronavirus could go on till September, he had been called an alarmist by some people. But with experts now warning that the pandemic could continue even beyond September, it was important to learn to co-exist with it and cope with it better, he stressed. Also Read | “Peak of Coronavirus pandemic is yet to hit Punjab” Captain Amarinder Singh also said that the state government was working on a multi-pronged strategy to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Some restrictions had been imposed over the weekends and holidays, and strict enforcement of all protocols was being ensured through fines. The focus was currently on a micro-containment strategy to isolate small mohallas or village wards rather than close down larger areas, he said. -PTC News