Chandigarh, July 17 - Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal has directed the officers to start a special campaign to motivate people to wear face masks due to the increased risk of Covid-19 during Unlock-2. He said that traffic intersections, vehicles of the Department of Urban Local Bodies and publicity vehicles of Department of Information, Public Relations and Languages should also be used to spread awareness.
The Chief Minister was presiding over a meeting of the Crisis Management Group of various departments which was constituted during COVID-19. The Chief Minister also instructed the Police Department to take strict action against people without masks by challaning them on the spot and directed to give them at least five masks.
In view of the oncoming Shivratri, it was decided in the meeting that permission to offer Gangajal in the temples, except for the containment zones, should be given as per the guidelines issued by the Union Home Ministry regarding worshipping in temples. Two to five persons may be allowed to enter the temples through token system at an interval of 30 minutes. At present, the curfew is imposed from 10 pm to 5 am in the country. The time for prayers for Shivratri will be from July 19, 2020, at 7.19 pm to July 20, 2020 at 5.30 am. People should be allowed to go to the temples accordingly.
It was said in the meeting that in some states like Karnataka, Assam, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Jammu & Kashmir and Maharashtra lockdown was imposed for varying duration spanning from a day to a week in different areas. Other than Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat and Rewari districts, the position of Corona-positive patients is stable in remaining districts of Haryana.
Additional Chief Secretary Health Department, Mr. Rajeev Arora, was present in the meeting through video conferencing from Haryana Bhawan, New Delhi. He apprised the Chief Minister that the average Corona positive rate in the state is 5.9 percent, while it is 7.6 percent in the country. Similarly, the recovery rate of corona patients is 75 percent in Haryana, while it is 63 percent in the country. Similarly, mortality rate is 1.34 percent. The number of corona active patients is 5,594 and 20 patients are on ventilator. Apart from this, the testing rate per day has also been improved. In Gurugram 2,400 tests are being conducted while in Sonipat and Faridabad 880 each and in Ambala 472 tests are being conducted. In all, around 9,110 tests have been conducted every day in Haryana which will be increased to 12,000 tests a day. The facility of mobile testing will also be provided. The Chief Minister instructed the officers to provide free ambulance facility for travel to patients who have to come for testing after being quarantined or after testing positive. He said that he had received a complaint from Rohtak district regarding the officers of health department asking patients to commute by their own vehicle.
It was also informed in the meeting that recently the state has recently received 100 ventilators from Bharat Heavy Electricals, Bangalore, which has enhanced the number of ventilators available to over 1,000. The new ventilators will be distributed in the State's medical colleges and hospitals. In addition, plasma banks are also being opened in Panchkula, Rohtak, Gurugam. People are also being encouraged to donate the plasma. Similarly, kits to boost immunity are also being distributed by the AYUSH Department. The Chief Minister said that maximum immunity Ayush Kits should be distributed. Additional amount from the Chief Minister’s Corona Relief Fund can also be given if required for this purpose.
It also came to light in the meeting that at present 60 buses of Haryana Roadways are plying to Rajasthan and 40 buses to Uttar Pradesh. The number of passengers travelling in Haryana Roadways buses on July 1 was 60,000 per day, which has now reached a figure of one lakh. Likewise, during COVID-19, 4,43,000 workers were sent to their home states through special trains and buses.
The Chief Minister was also apprised that the number of electric crematoriums in the cities are being increased by the Department of Urban Local Bodies and work has been allocated for setting up 15 such crematoriums.
Among those present during the meeting included Chief Secretary Mrs. Keshni Anand Arora, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr. Rajesh Khullar, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Mr. Vijai Vardhan, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Education & Research Department, Mr. Alok Nigam, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr. V. Umashankar, Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Ms. Ashima Brar, Principal Secretary, Excise and Taxation Department, Mr. Anurag Rastogi, Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department, Mr. A.K. Singh, Director General, Urban Local Bodies, Mr. Amit Agrawal, Director General of Police (DGP), Mr Manoj Yadava.