Out of about 1.80 lakh migrants registered for returning to Uttarakhand, about 30,000 have been brought back till Sunday evening. Though there is a risk factor bringing back migrants from other States, their return has to be facilitated. Apart from this, intensive care units (ICUs) have been set up in 11 of the State’s districts and the same in the remaining two districts will also be established soon, said Cabinet Minister and State Government spokesman Madan Kaushik.
Addressing the media here on Sunday, Kaushik said that about 1.80 lakh migrants had registered to return to Uttarakhand. Out of these, 23,794 had been brought back by Saturday night and the number would increase to 30,000 by Sunday evening.
He said that though there is some risk in bringing back migrants to the state from outside, the return has to be facilitated as one does not leave a family member stranded. About five special trains are expected to operate in the coming days from various parts of India bringing back stranded Uttarakhandis. Those returning to the state are undergoing proper screening and other precautions which is why it is taking some time for them to depart towards their home districts after returning to the state. Apart from this, out of 21,717 persons from other states stranded in Uttarakhand who had registered to return to their home states, 6,378 persons have been sent back to their states
Regarding the medical facilities in the state, Kaushik said that presently there are four laboratories testing samples for COVID-19. Whereas there were ICUs in only three districts in 2017, ICUs have now been established in 11 districts and will start functioning soon in the two remaining districts- Almora and Bageshwar. Further, a government order has also been passed to provide benefit of Ayushman Bharat and Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana to government employees and pensioners in the state.
To tackle the situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, Rs 85 crore has been released from the State Disaster Relief Fund. From this sum, Rs five crore each has been provided to the districts for measures to ensure protection from COVID-19 while Rs 20 crore has been released to the Medical Education department for strengthening COVID-19 notified hospitals and arrangement of necessary equipment. Apart from this, Rs 10 crore has been released to the Medical Education department from the CM relief fund to strengthen the government medical colleges.