Anybody entering Punjab will be medically examined and quarantined: Capt Amarinder

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 1

With the state witnessing a fresh wave in increase of COVID-19 positive cases, largely due to the Hazur Sahib pilgrims brought back from Nanded, Maharashtra, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Friday announced that anybody entering Punjab will be medically examined and quarantined, before being allowed to go home.

In a televised address, the chief minister said no resident of Punjab would be allowed to enter the state before being thoroughly examined at the inter-state border check posts.

He said he had got reports that people from Haryana and Rajasthan were trying to sneak into the state in a clandestine manner to avoid being quarantined.

Those found positive would be treated and others would be quarantined in official centres, he said.

“So far, 7000 Punjab residents, including 3,525 from Nanded Sahib and 3000 from Rajasthan, have been brought to Punjab. More would be entering the state in the coming days,” said the chief minister.

“There was nothing to fear about the quarantine centres and it is for our safety,” said the chief minister.

Asserting that this was not the time to indulge in petty politics, Capt Amarinder appealed to the opposition parties not to trigger panic among people by spreading misinformation about the Covid pandemic in the state.

The chief minister said there were no mismanagement of the crisis or widespread infections in the state, as was being projected by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Most of the cases now were those that were coming from other states, he said, disclosing that of the new cases reported, only seven related to local infection while 93 were Punjabis who had come from outside the state.

The chief minister called upon the people not to be worried about the sudden spike in numbers that could be expected over the next few days as more people return to their homes from other states, with the Government of India’s decision to allow the movement of stranded people.

Urging the opposition to join hands, and work shoulder to shoulder with his government, the chief minister said “we have a war at our hands, and it is time not to score brownie points but to show unity”.

Citing the example of the appointment of Labour leader Clement Attlee as deputy PM by then Conservative UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill, when faced with war against Germany, Capt Amarinder said wars can only be fought and won unitedly.

Capt Amarinder underlined the need for all to work together to save the state and its people.

“It is a war of Punjab and for its people,” he said.

In an apparent reference to the opposition’s criticism of his government’s handling of the Covid situation, the chief minister said nobody wants to hear negative things at this critical time. People are already going through very negative times, and want to hear positive things and good news, he added.

Warning of possible escalation in the number of Covid cases as more and more stranded Punjabis return from other states, in the wake of easing of norms by the Centre, the chief minister appealed to the people not to be afraid of quarantine, which was just a means to ensure that the returnees do not spread the infection among their families, neighbours or others.

Quarantine is nothing but a way to keep those coming back to Punjab in isolation while they are tested and given a clean chit by the doctors, said Capt Amarinder, making it clear that every person returning to the state would be kept in institutional quarantine as a preventive measure.

Amid reports of certain people sneaking through the borders to get back home, the chief minister appealed to all not to resort to such dangerous measures but to come in through proper channels, with due screening, testing and quarantining.