To combat fresh surge of Coronavirus infections in the state, Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Saturday directed the Administrative Secretaries to visit the respective districts assigned to them for monitoring Covid response efforts and to review preparedness in case of a second wave of infections, including contact tracing and patient tracking, protocols for referral, strengthening of Level-3 facilities and also ramping up Covid-19 testing across the State.
Mahajan said officials concerned have been directed to ensure that minimum 15 contacts of each positive patient must be identified and tested as per the Covid-19 guidelines.
Health and all other concerned departments should be ready to tackle the possible second wave of the pandemic, said the Chief Secretary, adding that it was also the responsibility of the people of the state to actively participate in the fight against the pandemic by strictly following Covid appropriate behaviour. Till such time that a vaccine against Covid is introduced, ‘Mask hi vaccine hai’ is the mantra of Mission Fateh.
Police would remain at the forefront of the fight against coronavirus, said DGP Dinkar Gupta, adding that police will work in unison with the civil administration to ensure implementation of Covid-19 safety norms. Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare Hussan Lal and Principal Secretary Medical Education & Research DK Tiwari assured of full preparedness to contain the possible second wave of coronavirus.
Later, the Chief Secretary held a VC with Deputy Commissioners, CPs, SSPs and MCs to take stock of the fresh surge in new Covid cases. She asked Deputy Commissioners, SSPs and health officials to ensure strict vigil on large social gatherings. Regular monitoring of all home isolated patients must also be ensured. District administrations should work closely with educational institutes to strictly implement the Covid protocols, especially washing hands and wearing masks, to prevent transmission of infection. She commended the good work and the efforts that had been put in and appreciated the coordinated response of the civil and police administration.
23 DEATHS, 719 FRESH CASES IN PUNJAB
Twenty three more fatalities due to Covid-19 pushed the death toll in Punjab to 4,595, while 719 new cases took the infection tally to 1,45,667 on Saturday, according to a medical bulletin.
Among the new deaths, seven were reported from Jalandhar, four from Hoshiarpur, three from Ludhiana, two each from Patiala, Ropar and Amritsar and one each from Bathinda and Kapurthala.
Of the fresh Covid-19 cases, Jalandhar registered 165 infections, Mohali 149, Ludhiana 81 and Patiala 77. According to the bulletin, Punjab has 6561 active Covid-19 cases.
As many as 592 coronavirus patients were discharged after recovering from the viral infection in a day, taking the number of recoveries to 1,34,511. a total of 29,95,244 samples have been collected for Covid-19 testing so far in the State.
