Coronavirus - Amarinder Singh Points To The "Only Good Thing" Amid COVID-19 Crisis

Amarinder Singh said coronavirus had disrupted the supply chain of drugs.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday said that the only good thing to come out of the ongoing coronavirus crisis has been the disruption of the drug supply into the state.

"The only good thing that has come out of COVID is that the drug supply line has broken. So we are happy. We have a task force on drugs as you know. I've got a thousand policemen headed by an ADGP (Additional Director General of Police) rank officer. And I have been informed that the supply line of the drugs has been broken. So heroin and all these things which were being smuggled are no longer happening.

For many years, Punjab has dealt with a major drug problem. Once a transit point on the drug route, the state which shares a large border with Pakistan, the state has become a major consumer base over the years. Curbing the problem had been one of Amarinder Singh's campaign promises in the 2017 elections.

The Chief Minister also said the ongoing lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus should continue, noting that predictions by health experts about the spread of the pandemic are "horrendous and frightening".

He said a decision on whether Punjab will extend the ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown, due to end on April 14, will be taken at a meeting of the state cabinet later this evening.

Addressing an online press conference, Captain Singh said Punjab will allow district-wise relief from the lockdown to farmers for harvesting the winter-spring crop.

He said the state was expecting a bumper crop of 185 lakh tonnes of wheat and is making arrangements for harvesting the crop.

He also said that predictions by health experts about the spread of the pandemic are "horrendous and frightening".

Saying that most of the new cases reported in Punjab were those of secondary transmission, the Chief Minister said there were indications of his state "moving into" the community transmission stage of the outbreak.

Community transmission is Stage 3 of an outbreak, when the infections escalate and it is difficult to trace the source.

However, the central government asserted again that India is not in that stage. "I reiterate, there is no community transmission yet across the country," said Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health Ministry at a daily briefing in Delhi.

Punjab currently has 132 confirmed coronavirus cases and 11 people have died from COVID-19 in the state, Captain Singh said.