Chandigarh, August 6: Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal has today has urged the patients who have recovered from COVID-19 infection to come forward and motivate people suffering from this infection to put up a tough fight against this Pandemic. Infact all such survivors should encourage people to not fear from this Pandemic, rather ensure proper precautions are taken for it. The Chief Minister also appealed to the people who have recovered from COVID-19 infection to donate their plasma.
The Chief Minister said this while presiding over the meeting presiding over a meeting of Crisis Management Group (CMG) regarding COVID-19 status in Haryana with the officers of various departments here today.
The Chief Minister was apprised that free COVID-19 test facility has been made available in all civil hospitals of the State. People should visit these hospitals for testing. It was informed that for COVID sample collection toll-free numbers -108 and 1075 have been setup. Any person can call on these toll-free numbers for sample collection and after making the call, a mobile van will be sent for the sample collection.
It was further informed that SMS are being sent to the people who have recovered from COVID-19 infection, so that they can come forward for plasma donation. So far as many as 338 people have given their consent to donate. The Chief Minister said that separate letters should also be sent to such people.
In the meeting, the Chief Minister was apprised that in Unlock-3, a special campaign is being run to motivate people for wearing masks. Information for wearing of masks and adhering to social distancing norms at various traffic intersections and on the vehicles of Urban Local Bodies department is being disseminated. Besides this awareness hoardings for the same have been placed at over 900 public places.
Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Mr. Rajeev Arora informed the Chief Minister that except in Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat and Rewari districts, the number of COVID-19 positive patients in other districts is under control. He informed that under 'Operation Vande Bharat', as per the new guidelines issued by the Union Home Ministry for Unlock-3, now people returning from abroad are no longer required to remain in institutional quarantine for seven days.
Now if a person returning from abroad gives a medical certificate of 48 hours before his trip confirming that he is COVID-19 negative, then he will not be required to keep in quarantine, though it will be mandatory from him to stay in the home quarantine for 96 hours, he said.
The Chief Minister directed the officers that at least one COVID-19 testing lab should be opened in each district, where testing should be conducted through RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) method instead of antigen testing.
On this, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Education Research Department, Mr. Alok Nigam informed that at present there are 16 COVID-19 testing labs, out of which 11 are government and five labs have been set up in private hospitals. Besides, this 10 more labs will be opened soon. Tele-ICU beds have also been provided at ESI Lab of Gurugram and Faridabad, he said.
The Chief Minister directed the officers that free pick and drop ambulance facility should be provided to the patients who need to be tested after recovering from COVID-19 or before.
Mr. Manohar Lal was apprised that at present, under the Inter-State Transport Services, about 150 buses of Haryana Roadways are being run in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Haryana Transport buses are plying with a number of 30 passengers. The number of commuters has exceeded 1.50 lakh per day.
The Chief Minister said that it should be ensured that every passenger in the bus is wearing a mask and sanitizes his hands. No person should be allowed to travel while standing in the bus.
Director General, Urban Local Bodies Department, Dr. Amit Agrawal, informed the Chief Minister that the number of electric crematoriums is being increased in cities and work has been allocated to establish 14 such crematoriums. At present, additional 11 crematoriums have been constructed in the premises of existing crematoriums, he said.
Director General of Police, Mr. Manoj Yadava informed that during the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Policemen despite risking their lives dedicatedly performed their duties as Corona Warriors. He said that the rate of policemen getting COVID-19 infection is lesser as compared to other states. He informed that so far, 587 policemen have been found positive, which is 1.14 percent of the total force and the police recovery rate is 65 percent. So far three policemen have died from Corona infection.
Haryana Director, Department of Information, Public Relations and Languages, Mr. PC Meena informed that an informative documentary made on the precautions to be taken to fight this Pandemic instead of fearing it, is being run on various channels. Besides this, photos of people who have recovered from Corona are also being displayed in advertisements. He said that the survival stories of the patients who have recovered from COVID-19 infection and their experiences are also being telecast on channels, he informed.
The Chief Minister directed the officers that maximum publicity should be done in rural areas. He said that as during Unlock-3 maximum activities have resumed to normalcy. Overcrowding in the markets has been increased and with the movement of people and workers, the number of people infected with COVID-19 has been increased. Therefore all the departments should make separate groups and the same should be reviewed every seven days and further share the details about separately in the medical bulletin.
The Chief Minister, while giving directions regarding flood and heavy rainfall warning, directed the officers to ramp up all preparations for disaster management in advance. Water logging complaints are being reported from many cities. Therefore water drainage work should be completed on priority basis in all such cities. Drainage water pumps must be in working condition before the need arises.
Chief Secretary Mrs. Keshni Anand Arora, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department Mr. Vijai Vardhan, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Local Bodies Department Mr. SN Roy, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mr. V. Umashankar, Principal Secretary to Government Haryana, Excise and Taxation Department, Mr. Anurag Rastogi, Principal Secretary, Industries and Commerce Department Mr. AK Singh, Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mrs. Ashima Brar, Chief Executive Officer, Ayushman Bharat Haryana Health Protection Authority, Mr. AK Meena, Secretary, Medical Education and Research Department, Ms. Amneet P Kumar and other senior officers were also present.