This fresh step came hot on the heels yesterday's directive in which the state has closed all the educational institutions, except Medical, Dental and Nursing Colleges in the state would remain closed till January 26 to ensure safety of the students.
Governor Rajinder Vishwanath Arlekar and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur took a time out and enjoyed first snow of the season in the premises of Rajbhawan saying that snowfall has come as harbinger of good crops for the farmers in the state.
The health department should ramp up covid testing, effective monitoring of clusters and strict perimeter to check the spread of third wave of pandemic, he said.
Yesterday, Presiding over the video conference with the DCs, SPs, CMOs from Shimla today to review Covid-19 pandemic in the state, Jai Ram Thakur said people should adopt covid appropriate behaviour in view of surge in covid cases.
He said they should review preparedness regarding availability of beds, oxygen PPE kits and drugs and all restrictions imposed by the State Government must be enforced strictly. The medical experts are expecting a sharp surge in number of cases in next few days and weeks, thus special precautions must be adopted, he said.
He said that the mechanism of home isolation must be made more effective and revised home isolation guidelines must be implemented.
Thakur said the pulse oximeters and thermometers must be provided to ASHA workers and other health workers so that the patients under home isolations must be monitored regularly. In case of any complications, the patients must be immediately moved to health institutions.
He said that effective mechanism of transportation of patients must be evolved so that the patients do not face any inconvenience. He also directed the officers to ensure adequate availability of oxygen cylinders and other necessary equipment so that in case of any emergent situation, panic could be avoided.
He also felt the need for accelerate vaccination of children in the age group of 15 to 18 years and precautionary dose to health care workers.
Chief Minister directed the district administration to keep an eye on tourists not following Covid appropriate behaviour and take action against the defaulters.
He also directed the Deputy Commissioners to take steps to ensure that people do not face any inconvenience due to snow and supply of water and power must be ensured.
Chief Secretary Ram Subhag Singh said that constant engagement with the stakeholders was vital to follow various SoPs in the State. He said that greater stress must be laid on tracing and tracking of covid patients.
Secretary Bharat Khera gave a presentation on preparedness for the anticipated third wave of Covid19.
The Deputy Commissioners also flagged steps taken by them to ensure adoption of covid appropriate behaviour by the tourists and general public in their respective districts. They also highlighted the steps taken regarding preparedness for third wave.
Principal Secretary Revenue Onkar Chand Sharma, Special Secretary Sudesh Mokta, Mission Director National Health Mission Hemraj Bairwa, Director Higher Education Dr. Amarjeet Sharma and Dr. Rajneesh Pathania were present.
