DW BUREAU / chandigarh The Punjab government on Tuesday allowed opening of bars in hotels, shopping complexes and multiplexes falling outside coronavirus containment zones, according to an official spokesperson. He said the management of such commercial establishments must ensure meticulous compliance of the standard operating procedures issued by the Health Department from time to time. Earlier on June 8, the state government had allowed the opening of hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services in areas outside containment zones with a stipulation that liquor could be served in restaurants and rooms of hotels as per the licence of the Excise Department. However, the bars were kept closed. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday gave the go-ahead for the second serosurvey to be conducted across a larger sampling area to assess the spread of coronavirus in the state. The survey will be conducted in a random sample of 4,800 people among the general population in the third week of November, with the results expected to be released by the end of the month, an official release said here. At a virtual COID-19 review meeting, the chief minister agreed with health experts on the need to find the extent of spread of SARS CoV-2 outside the containment zones, in contrast with the first serosurvey that was conducted in August in five containment zones across five districts. The first survey conducted in one containment zone each in Patiala, SAS Nagar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar had found 27.8 per cent seroprevalence. "The second survey will include a random sample of 120 clusters (60 villages and 60 urban wards) from 12 randomly selected districts, with 40 adults to be selected randomly from each cluster," the release said. According to a health department bulletin on Monday, the infection tally in the state stands at 1,37,999, while the death toll reached 4,338. Twenty more COVID-19 deaths in Punjab pushed the toll to 4,358 while 491 new cases took the infection tally to 1,38,485 on Tuesday, officials said. There are 5,038 active COVID-19 cases in the state as of now, according to the bulletin. The places which reported new coronavirus cases included Jalandhar (76), SAS Nagar (75) and Ludhiana (74). The total number of cured people in the state is 1,29,089.Fifteen critical patients are on ventilator support while 134 are on oxygen support, the bulletin said.  Amid projections of a second coronavirus wave hitting Punjab, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday directed the Health and Medical Education Departments to maintain levels of testing at 30,000 a day. He also ordered amendment in rules to enable direct recruitment of super specialist doctors to meet the shortfall of the medical staff. Chairing a high-level virtual meeting to review the pandemic situation in the state, the CM asked Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan to work on amending the rules for ensuring direct recruitment. (editor@dailyworld.in)