Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday directed the officers to set up nine new Covid-19 testing labs in the next 10 days in the State and conduct a special campaign to motivate people to wear masks during Unlock-3.
Apart from this, they should also spread awareness at traffic intersections, and utilise the vehicles of the Urban Local Bodies Department and the publicity vehicles of the Information, Public Relations and Language Department, regarding wearing masks or covering the mouth and nose with a ‘gamchcha’, he added.
Presiding over the meeting of the disaster management committee with various departments to take stock of the COVID-19 situation in the state, the Chief Minister also directed the Police Department to strictly enforce wearing of masks and issue challans on the offenders on the spot giving them at least five masks. If a person does not deliberately wear a mask, he should also be told that the challan amount could be increased from Rs 500 to Rs 1000 at any time in future.
It was informed during the meeting that apart from Gurugram, Faridabad, Sonipat and Rewari districts, the number of COVID-19 positive patients in other districts is under control.
Additional Chief Secretary, Health Department, Rajeev Arora apprised the Chief Minister that the average COVID-19 positive rate in the state is 5.82 per 0cent while it is 8.56 percent in the whole country. Haryana's recovery rate is 78.35 per cent while it is 64.23 percent in the country, he added. He said that the death rate is 1.23 per cent and in the country it is 2.26 per cent. COVID-19 suspected cases are 32876 out of which 25,758 patients are cured and the number of active patients is 6,712. He also informed that a tender has been floated for inviting three lakh Corona antigen kits out of which two lakh kits have been received.
The Chief Minister directed the officers that at least one COVID-19 Testing Lab should be opened in each district where the testing is facilitated by RTPCR system instead of antigen testing.
Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Education and Research Department, Alok Nigam informed that at present, there are 16 COVID-19 Testing Labs in the state including 11 in government and five in private hospitals.
The Chief Minister ordered that one new lab each in four district government hospitals and five medical colleges should be set up within the next 10 days.
At present, 9,500 tests are being conducted every day and the number will increase up to 20,000 as soon as the new labs open. Similarly, there are 10,630 isolated beds, while there are 12,846 ICU beds and the total number of beds is 52000 and there are 426 quarantine centres.
Khattar directed the officers to provide free ambulance services to patients who have recovered from COVID-19 when they return for re-testing. Apart from this, plasma banks are also being set up in Panchkula, Rohtak, and Gurugram.
People are being encouraged to donate plasma. Similarly, immunity boosting kits are also being distributed by the AYUSH department to increase disease resistance. The Chief Minister said that Ayush Kits should be distributed in large numbers.
Information was given in the meeting that under Haryana Interstate Transport Services, currently buses are being run in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. Haryana transport buses carry 35 passengers. The number of passengers is more than 1.15 lakh per day.
The Chief Minister directed that even during the festivals of Rakshabandhan and Eid, only 35 passengers should travel per bus.
The Chief Minister appealed that the people should continue to celebrate upcoming festivals like Rakshabandhan and Eid in the same way that they celebrated other festivals during the lockdown in a simple manner.
Khattar said during wedding ceremonies conducted in Banquet Hall there should not be a gathering of more than 50 people as per guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
He said that the Police Department and Urban Local Bodies Department should ensure compliance.
The Chief Minister said that strict action should be taken against the owners of the Banquet Halls, who violated the norms of lockdown and social distancing during any ceremony. For the first time violator, a fine of Rs 1 lakh will be imposed, while Rs 3 lakh for the second time and Rs 5 lakhs for more than twice.
However, if the owner continues to violate the norms, it could result in cancellation of their license.