DW BUREAU / cHANDIGARH Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Thursday directed the DGP to strictly enforce closure of liquor vends in cities and towns by 6.30 pm, as per the existing guidelines, to check the escalating cases of Covid in the state, which has crossed 46000 total cases with more than 1200 fatalities, with projections of further spike in the coming weeks. The liquor shops will remain open till 10 pm in rural areas for now, as per the guidelines in force till August 31, after which the decision will be reviewed and new guidelines issued accordingly. The Chief Minister's orders came amid reports of liquor shops in cities staying open way past the 6.30 pm closure time for other shops. He was reviewing the Covid situation in the state with top officials and health/medical experts through Video Conference. Given the spread of the pandemic now in the rural areas of the state too, the Chief Minister said he will be writing to village Sarpanches to ensure all due precautions and enforcement of safety protocols. In response to the feedback that ventilators received from the Government of India were causing some trouble, the Chief Minister ordered a thorough check of those by experienced engineers and doctors. Captain Amarinder also inquired into allegation of mismanagement at a Faridkot medical college, which had been raised by Faridkot MLA Kikki Dhillon, and asked the Health Department if the college had sufficient equipment and manpower to deal with the Covid crisis. Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan informed him that an IAS officer, who is also an MBBS doctor, has been deputed to handle Covid care management at the Faridkot hospital. Pointing out that Punjab was at the bottom of the list of 10 states with the highest cases, Vini Mahajan said the fatality rate was a matter of concern. The state was, however, preparing for the surge, with the support of private hospitals, she said. She disclosed that during a Video Conference with Cabinet Secretary, GoI, it was decided that Hydroxychloroquine be given to Covid patients in home quarantine and their contacts. She informed that the state government had so far received only Rs 101 crore from the Centre for Covid expenses, for which utilisation certificate had been sent to them. She said another Rs 30 crores were expected to come soon, but the state government had actually sought much more. Vini pointed out that the Centre would stop giving free PPE kits to the state, which was finding it difficult to manage with the resource crunch and was pressing for relaxation in expenses from the SDRF ceiling. (editor@dailyworld.in)