Urging the Congress government in Punjab to strike a balance between lives and livelihood, the opposition SAD on Saturday asked it to “improve” health services rather than imposing “coercive” COVID-19 shutdowns that were having a devastating effect on small shopkeepers and traders. The government should improve ambulance services and hospital infrastructure, increase bed strength and recruit more doctors and nurses, said Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Daljit Singh Cheema in a statement.

“It is not doing this at all and instead is forcing closedowns without any scientific basis,” Cheema claimed. “The shutdowns will only result in more crowding in markets when they reopen leading to a further spike in COVID-19 cases. They are simultaneously causing hardship for shopkeepers and tradesmen. If the government is so keen to enforce such shutdowns it should simultaneously come out with a financial package to support the affected people,” he said.

The Punjab government had extended the weekend lockdown and increased the night curfew by two hours in all the cities and towns in the wake of rising coronavirus cases in the state..