Reacting to the union government advisory on Coronavirus, the state health department of Uttarakhand has come on an alert mode on the dreaded disease which so far has claimed hundreds of lives in China. The state health department has constituted special monitoring teams at the airports and along the international boundary.
On Monday, the chief secretary Utpal Kumar Singh summoned top officials of health department to his office for video conferencing session. The session was convened by the government of India on Coronavirus scare in which officials of health and home departments of all the states took part. After attending the session, the Director General (DG) Health Services, Dr Amita Upreti addressed a press conference at her office. Here she said that all the districts have been asked to issue health advisory on the disease. She added that the department has been put on alert mode on Coronavirus. She added that special alert has been sounded on the areas adjacent to the borders of Nepal and China where teams of health department would be posted on the points where movement of people across the border occurs. Dr Upreti said that the Chief Medical Officers (CMOs) have been directed to provide isolation facilities for suspected patients of the disease and keep special ambulances ready. The DG said that the help of the police and Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) would be taken in the endeavour.
The teams of the health department have also been placed at Dehradun, Pithoragarh and Pantnagar airports to scan suspected patients. She claimed that the department is ready to tackle the disease and the CMOs have been asked to keep coordination with the officials of district administration and police. The DG said that awareness campaign about the disease should be launched without creating unnecessary fear in the general public.
The symptoms of the Coronavirus are similar to that of normal influenza. The symptoms include incessant fever, cough, irritation in throat, difficulty in breathing and pneumonia.The medical experts advice that people should cover their mouth and face while sneezing and should wash their hands and face regularly to prevent spread of the disease.
People should avoid going to crowded places and refrain from shaking hands with others. Those suffering from fever and cough should immediately take medical advice.