As the third wave of the novel coronavirus intensifies in the country, Punjab on Sunday reported more than 1,600 Covid-19 cases for the first time since June 2020.

Data from the government's coronavirus portal showed that 1,653 new infections were detected in the province in the last 24 hours, marking the fifth straight day Punjab recorded more than 1,000 cases.

The last time the province reported such a high number of cases was during the first wave on June 24, 2020, when it confirmed 1,655 infections. The province's tally now stands at 185,468.

The majority of cases – 973 – were reported in the capital, Lahore, followed by 81 in Gujranwala, 76 in Sialkot, and 73 in Rawalpindi, according to the daily situation report from the health department.

Amid the rising cases, the provincial government has imposed a lockdown in seven high-burdened cities, restricting the movement of the people to their homes, while "all commercial activities, establishments, markets and areas throughout the province of Punjab shall be closed by 6pm."

The major lockdown will start from Monday (tomorrow) for two weeks in the seven cities after a gap of a year. During the first wave of the infection, the government had imposed a complete lockdown across the province in March 2020.

Punjab cities under lockdown from tomorrow

• Lahore
• Rawalpindi
• Sargodha
• Faisalabad
• Multan
• Gujranwala
• Gujrat

While issuing a notification on Saturday, the Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department said a major lockdown had been imposed in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala and Gujrat, restricting the movement of the people within these districts and outside them.

Restrictions during lockdown in the 7 cities:

• A complete ban on gatherings of all kinds for social, religious, or other purposes at any place, public or private.
• All types of marriage and banquet halls, community centers and marquees to remain closed.
• A complete ban on all kinds of indoor gatherings while outdoor gatherings shall continue with upper limit of 50 people.
• A complete ban on indoor and outdoor dining.
• Only takeaway and home delivery will be allowed.

There shall also be a complete ban on gatherings of all kinds for social, religious or other purposes at any place, public or private, in these seven cities. All types of marriage and banquet halls, community centres and marquees will remain closed in these cities.

There shall also be a complete ban on all kinds of indoor gatherings while outdoor gatherings shall continue with upper limit of 50 people in the seven cities.

The government further said that there shall be a complete ban on indoor and outdoor dining in the seven cities while only takeaway and home delivery shall be allowed.

Restrictions imposed throughout Punjab

• All commercial activities, establishments, markets and areas in Punjab shall be closed by 6pm
• All public, private offices shall follow 50pc work from home policy
• Complete ban on all indoor gatherings
• Outdoor gatherings with a maximum limit of 300 persons allowed for 2 hours
• All sports, cultural and other activities banned

All public and private offices shall follow the 50 per cent work from home policy throughout the province, according to the notification.

The upper limit for outdoor gatherings in the rest of the province is 300 people for the maximum duration of two hours.

"All kinds of sports, cultural and other activities and events shall remain banned throughout the province," reads the notification.

Earlier this month, schools were closed in seven cities of the province — Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Lahore, Gujrat, Multan, Rawalpindi and Sialkot — till March 28.

Overall, the country reported 2,664 new coronavirus cases and 32 deaths on March 13.

UK variant behind increase in cases

One of the major reasons for the sharp surge of the cases was the presence of a highly infectious UK variant of the virus.

According to data generated by the next-generation sequencing (NGS) system, which has been imported from China, the United Kingdom’s highly infectious variant is present in Lahore, Jhelum, Okara, and Gujrat.

"The cluster-based surveillance of samples from different pockets of Punjab, including the four cities, shows about 70 per cent spike which correlates to the already-reported UK variant strain," said a health official.

He said a technical team of Punjab’s health department was working to get the sequencing data.

According to him, 70pc of the total cases reported in Punjab since April were of the infection originating in Wuhan, China.