Amid rapid spurt in the cases of Covid-19 across the country and state, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday once again urged the farmers to end their agitation against the three central farm laws during the ongoing crisis.
“It is everyone’s democratic right to protest but it is also our collective responsibility to protect ourselves, family members and our near and dear ones from this global pandemic that has become a global threat to humanity. Therefore, farmers on moral and ethical grounds should end this agitation to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” the Chief Minister said while giving his message during the ‘Haryana Ki Baat’ programme.
His message came on the day when the state reported 20 fatalities and 6277 fresh cases, the highest single-day spike ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
He said that wherever people gather in large numbers, there is a chance of spread of the virus. So the farmers should end their protest and can again hold the agitation whenever the situation normalizes, he added.
Khattar said last year, the highest 3104 cases were reported in a single day in the state but in the second wave, more than 5000 cases are now registered on a daily basis. Last year, the districts in NCR like Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonepat were badly affected, but now a sudden spike is also recorded in Panchkula, Ambala, Kurukshetra among other districts.
Some restrictions have been put on public gatherings and night curfew has been imposed to contain the spread of the virus. A cabinet meeting has been convened on April 22 to review the situation and more decisions are likely to be taken to deal with the second wave of COVID-19, he said.
Khattar said that from April 20 onwards, another massive vaccination campaign will begin in the state for people above 45 years of age.
On the arrangements made in hospitals to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, he said that adequate numbers of oxygen cylinders, ICU beds, ventilators, masks and PPE kits etc are being made available in all the hospitals across the state.
Referring to the night curfew imposed from 10 pm to 5 am in the state, Khattar said that unlike last year when the industrial activities were put on hold during the lockdown period, this time no such restrictions would be imposed and hence the industrial activities would run smoothly. Urging the migrant labourers and workers residing in Haryana not to panic, the Chief Minister said that all the workers and labour should freely continue to work.
He also said that every industrialist as per their convenience can carry out their industrial activities in shifts or can call their staff in fewer numbers on holidays so as to ensure that the virus spread is contained and even labourers do not face any kind of problem.