Chandigarh, March 5 (IANS): Underlining the need to continue Covid-19 appropriate behaviour, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Friday made it clear that safety restrictions and norms in the state will continue, while ensuring minimum, if any, loss of livelihood to the citizens of the state.

Pointing to the state's success in managing and containing the pandemic, the Chief Minister said in the Assembly while relying to the Governor's address that a year since the pandemic broke out, he could say with satisfaction that "we have done well, thanks to the hard work of all the health and frontline workers, district and police administration, NGOs, local representatives, and above all, the people".

Punjab was thought to be potentially a high-risk state given its international airports, and a large diaspora, but despite being over 2.5 per cent of India's population, the cases reported in the state have been relatively much less of 1.6 per cent of the country's 1.1 crore cases, said the Chief Minister, disclosing that 5,887 persons have unfortunately lost their lives in Punjab, with a current positivity rate of 2.3 per cent, "which is otherwise low but should give us no cause for complacency".

"It appears that India is experiencing a second wave so we have to be prepared for it," he warned.

Noting that the state was among the first to use plasma, and to set up plasma banks, the first to use steroids in Covid-19 management, Amarinder Singh said that his government had been transparent in its reporting, and had been constantly trying to improve based upon the state's experiences.

"Our efforts at containment and response have been recognised, and the health response team has collaborated with experts, including those working overseas, to bring the best cutting-edge practices to the state," he said.

Lauding the role of the farmers in ensuring successful procurement even during the pandemic, the Chief Minister said that a total of Rs 62,000 crore had been paid to the farmers for the two crops procured during this period.

Around 10 lakh farmers had come to the 'mandis' to sell their produce, he said.

However, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) members raised slogans during the Chief Minister's reply on the Governor's address and staged a walkout. Later, AAP members too joined them.