Coronavirus | Punjab Health Minister calls for fewer flights from Mumbai, Ahmedabad

“Most of cases reported in Punjab are having travel histories in other States and countries,” Balbir Singh Sidhu said.

Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Friday said that to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the State, there was a need to have fewer domestic flights arriving, especially from Mumbai and Ahmedabad, where higher numbers of COVID-19 cases have been reported.

“In order to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the State, as Punjab has registered only 2.8% positive cases among 72,468 samples, there is a need to reduce [the number of] domestic flights, especially from Mumbai and Ahmedabad, where higher numbers of COVID-19 cases have been reported,” Mr. Sidhu said while presiding over a meeting of the State Health Department.

‘Having travel histories’

“Most of cases reported in Punjab are having travel histories in other States and countries, so to prevent community spread, there is a need to focus on passengers, especially those arriving from high risk States and countries,” Mr. Sidhu said in an official statement.

The Minister also issued instructions in the meeting to ensure maximum sampling of passengers to trace affected persons. He said in 40 unfortunate instances of deaths by COVID-19 so far, most patients were over 50 years of age, almost all were afflicted with serious underlying illnesses like end-stage kidney disease, cancer, HIV, and uncontrolled diabetes and high blood pressure.

The Minister asked officials to further strengthen the protocols for management and control of COVID-19, even as the government has enhanced penalties in case of violations of guidelines issued to contain the spread of the coronavirus.