The Union Home Ministry on Saturday issued advisories to all States and Union Territories to register FIRs against attacks on health workers and implement a five-fold strategy to prevent the resurgence of Covid -19 pandemic in the coming months.
In a detailed advisory, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to Chief Secretaries to direct district administrations to also invoke the stringent provisions of the Epidemic Diseases (Amendment) Act 2020 against the miscreants who attack doctors and health workers in the FIR.
The advisory directed that the deployment of quick response teams, help lines must be implemented at all areas to prevent attacks against doctors, health professionals and institutions. In an another advisory, the Home Secretary said that lockdown rustications are lifted, the five-fold strategy of Covid appropriate behavior, Test, Track, Treat and Vaccination must be carefully implemented in a calibrated way to prevent further surge of Covid cases.
The States were also directed to implement regular monitoring of Covid-19 appropriate behviour maintenance.
“To reiterate, Covid appropriate behavior includes mandatory use of masks, hand hygiene, social distancing and also proper ventilation of closed spaces. However, easing of restrictions in some
States have led to resumption of crowding of people in markets etc without adherence to the norms of Covid appropriate behavior.
It is, therefore essential to ensure that complacency does not set in, and there is no let-up in adhering to Covid appropriate behaviour, while opening up activities,” said the advisory.