After Odisha, Punjab becomes second state to extend curfew till 30 April; PM to take final call on national lockdown tomorrow

Chandigarh: The Punjab government on Friday extended the coronavirus lockdown till 30 April, becoming the second state after Odisha to do so. The decision was taken at a meeting of the council of ministers in Chandigarh. [caption id=“attachment_8173231” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AP[/caption] “Punjab Cabinet unanimously approves extension of Punjab curfew/ lockdown till 30 April, 2020/1st May, 2020. Extension by 21 days from today. Strict enforcement (sic)”, Special Chief Secretary KBS Sidhu tweeted. Punjab has seen a spike in the number of coronavirus cases in the past few days, pushing the total count to 132 so far with 11 deaths. Earlier in the day, during a video conference with the media, hosted by the AICC from New Delhi, chief minister Amarinder Singh had indicated that his government was seriously thinking of extending the lockdown as the time did not appear to be right for lifting the ongoing restrictions. Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak He also said the government was looking for ways to extricate the state from the restrictions and enable it to function with the coronavirus around. A high-powered committee with several doctors, medical and other experts, was examining the situation and will soon submit its report on the lockdown exit strategy, the chief minister said.