Punjab Minister Aruna Chaudhary on Saturday instructed to close all anganwadi centres till further orders in view of the spike in COVID-19 cases in the state. The social security, women and child development minister said ration and other material will be distributed door to door through anganwadi workers and helpers, so that nutritional support to beneficiaries is not affected.

Thirty-four more fatalities due to COVID-19 were reported in Punjab on Friday, taking the death toll to 6,030, while the infection count climbed to 1,94,753 with 1,414 new coronavirus cases in the state. In January, the Punjab government had announced that all anganwadi centres for children and other beneficiaries across the state would reopen from February 1.

The centres were closed earlier due to the COVID-19 pandemic.