Expressing concern over rising up Covid-19 cases in NCR districts, Haryana Director General of Health Services Dr Suraj Bhan Kamboj on Saturday said chief medical officers have been asked to ramp up Covid-19 testing in the worst-affected NCR districts. NCR districts including Gurugram, Faridabad, Rewari and Sonepat are having Covid-positive rate higher than the state’s average of 6.82 per cent.

Talking to The Pioneer over the phone, Dr Kamboj said owing to festive season, covid-19 cases increased in the State. In addition to this, Government and private schools reopened and now it has been shut down. Since November 10, the State has reported over 20,000 new cases of infections while over 50 patients have died.

Taking serious note of it, the State Government has now decided to conduct at least 1,000 tests daily per district in these districts, while its aim is to ramp up daily testing across the State to 30,000 tests at least. Till date, Haryana’s total count of Covid-19 patients had crossed 2,12,355 out of which 1,90,067 patients had recovered while 2,138 lost their lives.  There were still over 20,150 active Covid-19 patients in the State that included 416 patients in a critical condition.

Haryana DG said, “Around 28,000 tests were being conducted in Haryana and it will keep increasing in the ongoing winter season. Necessary instructions have been issued to all the chief medical officers of all 22 districts of Haryana to ensure that minimum 10-15 contacts of each positive patient must be identified within 24 to 72 hours and isolated as per the Covid-19 guidelines.

The health officials have also been instructed to visit bus stands, railway stations and other crowded places in their respective jurisdictions to check for all the SoPs to be followed with adequate testing facilities made available.”

Dr Kamboj added the Chief Medical Officers have also been asked to conduct outreach testing camps in open areas adhering to the Covid appropriate behaviour. They were also asked to ensure regular monitoring of all home isolated patients by the health care providers.

The State Government has already notified guidelines for home isolation for patients with mild symptoms with the positive cases. So far, the patients in home isolation are regularly monitored through phone calls and home visits by the health officials for follow-ups. Patients who developed moderate or severe symptoms are being shifted to hospitals.

The health department has already set up call centres in all the districts for digital tracking of patients in home isolation and monitoring their health through phone calls. The health officials were directed to strictly follow the ICMR protocol before recommending a Covid-19 patient for home isolation” Dr Kamboj added.

The DG Health further said that the home isolation concept is useful as the major chunk of patients admitted are those who are critically ill. “A rapid response team is available round the clock for patients under home isolation. If a patient develops breathlessness or any other complication, an ambulance is dispatched to his/her residence and the patient is referred to Government Hospital,” he added

“A post-Covid-care research centre has also been set up in Rohtak’s PGIMS to address the problems faced by patients recovering from the infection,” he added.

2,666 NEW CASES, 25 MORE DEATHS IN HARYANA

Haryana on Saturday reported 2666 fresh Covid-19 cases, bringing the infection tally to 215,021, while the death toll from the disease rose to 2163 in the state with 25 more fatalities, according to a medical bulletin. Of the new fatalities, five were from Faridabad, four from Bhiwani, three each from Gurugram, Hisar, two each from Rohtak, Jhajjar, Fatehabad, Charkhi Dadri and one each from Jind and Sirsa districts, according to the state health department’s daily bulletin. Among the districts which reported a spike in Covid-19 cases included Gurugram (939), Faridabad (630) and Hisar (179), Sonepat (110), Rohtak (101). The State has an active case count of 20, 325 while the rate of recovery from the infection is 89.54 per cent.

PENALTY FOR NOT WEARING MASK WILL BE Rs 500 ONLY: CM

Appealing people to follow covid-19 protocol, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Saturday said that the penalty for not wearing a mask will be

Rs 500 only.  Talking to reporters in Chandigarh, the Chief Minister said that it is necessary for every person to wear a mask and maintain social distancing.

Khattar refused to increase the amount of fine imposed on those who do not wear masks. The penalty for not wearing a mask will be Rs 500 only. People will be made aware of the danger for not wearing masks, he added.

Regarding reopening of schools, the Chief Minister made it clear that all schools in the State will remain closed till November 30. All the school children will be subjected to corona virus tests at their home before the school opens. School children will be called to school only when they are corona negative, he added. It should be mentioned here that about 150 children were found infected with coronavirus in several schools of the State two or three days ago.