Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday said that the State Government has taken adequate steps for mitigation of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic in the state.
The Chief Minister said that the State Government kept a close liaison with the Union Government to get all possible Central assistance to the state during the pandemic.
The first and foremost task before the government was to ensure check spread of this virus. As many as eleven video conferences were held with the Prime Minister and other Central leaders. 34 video conferences were held with the Deputy Commissioners, Superintendent of Police and Chief Medical Officers of the state, he said.
Thakur said that necessary directions were given to the district officers to take steps to mitigate the crisis. Also, 14 video conferences were held with the elected representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions so as to ensure people’s participation in effectively combating the crisis.
The Chief Minister, who had contracted the virus and has recovered now, further said COVID-19 was not only a global pandemic and public health crisis and it has also severely affected the global economy and financial markets. Significant reductions in income, rise in unemployment, and disruptions in manufacturing industries were among the consequences of the disease, he added.
Thakur said that the State Government also ensured that the pace of development does not get affected in the state due to the pandemic. 21 online programmes were held during the last about seven months, in which foundation stones and inaugurations of developmental projects worth crores of rupees were performed online.
Apart from this, 37 public meetings through video conferencing and four video conferences with beneficiaries under various schemes were also held during this period, he added.
The state has so far reported 20299 COVID-19 positive cases.
As per the state’s health bulletin, there were 2449 active cases and 17537 have cured from the virus. 286 persons have succumbed to the virus till now. Till Sunday evening, 68 fresh positive cases were reported in the state, the bulletin stated.
So far, 37854 COVID-19 tests have been conducted in the state.