A Covid-19 negative test report will be mandatory for ministers, legislators, officers, security personnel and other staff members attending the one-day monsoon session of the Punjab Assembly on 28 August.

The Assembly Speaker Rana KP Singh on Friday said a detailed precautionary protocol will be put in place for the monsoon session and no visitors will be allowed to witness the proceedings.

An official said the Members of Legislative Assembly (MLAs) will have the option to get their coronavirus test conducted in their respective districts or at a three-day camp to be held at MLAs Hostel in Chandigarh from 25 August to 27 August.

The health department and deputy commissioners have been asked to make arrangements for Covid-19 tests of legislators in districts accordingly.

The 117-member Assembly will meet for the first time since the Covid outbreak during the one-day session.

Only 20 per cent of the Assembly staff will be deployed during the session. A special camp will be held outside the Assembly building to test them for coronavirus.

The Punjab government has been asked to deploy only those officers who are required in connection with bills to be taken up when the House conducts legislative business.

The official said the House has adequate seating capacity with 105 desks, each meant for two members, but one desk will be assigned to each member to maintain the required social distancing.

The 12th session of the Punjab Assembly has been summoned by governor VP Singh Badnore amid the Covid- 19 pandemic to fulfill the constitutional obligation that there should not be a gap of more than six months between two sessions. The Covid-19 cases, which are seeing a regular spike, have almost doubled to 38,000 in the past 16 days in the state with one minister, the deputy speaker and some MLAs contracting the virus in the past one week.

The session has been scheduled to open with obituary references, after which it will adjourn for a while and reconvene for the next sitting, during which legislative business will be conducted. The 11th session of the 15th Punjab Assembly concluded on 4 March this year.

Haryana lockdown

Meanwhile, a day after Punjab announced weekend lockdown in all 167 cities and towns in the state, Haryana on Friday said all offices and shops in the state will remain shut on weekends in an attempt to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.

“All offices and shops except essential will remain closed in Haryana on every Saturday and Sunday due to Covid-19,” Haryana home minister Anil Vij tweeted. The state, which shares its border with Delhi, has logged over 50,000 cases of coronavirus and 578 deaths so far.

Calling for ‘war-like preparedness’ to deal with the massive Covid spike in Punjab, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh yesterday ordered a series of emergency measures, including extension of weekend lockdown with daily night curfew from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. in all the 167 cities and towns in the state from tomorrow.

He has also ordered a total ban on all gatherings except weddings and funerals across the state till August 31. Government and private offices will work at 50 per cent capacity till the end of this month.

The restrictions in Punjab will be in place until August 31 and includes restrictions on public and private transport, a ban on public gatherings (except for weddings and funerals) and closing of 50 per cent of shops selling nonessential goods in the five worst-affected districts.