<span style="color: #222222;">Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh today warned people against laxity in adherence to the curbs imposed in the state, and said if the COVID situation doesn't improve he would be forced to consider a total lockdown.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The Chief Minister said he had so far refrained from ordering a sweeping lockdown in the state because it will hurt the poor the most and would lead to exodus of migrant labourers, plunging industries into chaos again.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">However, he said that if the people do not stringently comply with the restrictions in place, harsher steps might have to be taken.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The state is currently in a soft lockdown situation, with strong curbs in place, with additional restrictions imposed by the government on Sunday.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Chairing a high-level virtual meeting to review the COVID situation, the Chief Minister today also ordered a stop on all take-away deliveries from restaurants, which was being used by youngsters as a pretext to move out of their homes.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Only home deliveries of food should be allowed, he directed the officials. He, however, gave permission for shops selling fertilisers to be open.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The Chief Minister said, the officers should encourage the  Industry to use their CSR funds for vaccination and treatment of their labourers suffering from mild or moderate illness, so that they can stay at home, thus reducing pressure on hospitals.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">Emphasizing the need to step up preparedness amid projections of a peak in the coming days, the Chief Minister ordered 20 per cent increase in bed capacity in the next 10 days.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He directed the Health and Medical Education departments to get stadiums, gymnasiums and other such places ready to house patients.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">He also directed use of staff from rural development and other departments to augment the workforce for tracing of COVID contacts in rural areas.</span><br />''  <br />