UP: CM for testing of vendors engaged in doorstep delivery

TNN | Updated: Apr 27, 2020, 08:31 IST

LUCKNOW: Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday heightened the preventive steps to arrest the spread of Covid-19 by directing officials to subject vendors engaged in doorstep delivery to rigorous testing for infection.
The state government has put in place a mechanism for doorstep delivery, especially in over 400 hotspots which have been sealed due to high load of Covid-19 patients.
Issuing directives after a high-level meeting at his official residence, Yogi pitched for special vigil on people engaged in doorstep delivery. He asked officials to put in place provisions to prevent doctors, nurses and paramedical staff from getting infected.
“Medical staff should be provided personal protection equipment (PPE) kits and N-95 masks. Hospitals should be sanitized and a dedicated team of officials be constituted to monitor the staff engaged in treatment of coronavirus patients,” he said.
Yogi sought quick disposal of bio-medical waste generated after treatment of patients. For this, the state government will constitute teams comprising an environmental engineer in all districts.
The CM said Covid hospitals should be specifically demarcated and no other medical service be provided there.
The directives come a day ahead of the CM’s scheduled video conference with PM Narendra Modi who is expected to take feedback from states as the deadline of second phase of lockdown is about to end in a week.
Additional chief secretary, home, Awanish Awasthi said, “The CM has reiterated strict implementation of lockdown and a ban on crowding at public places till June 30. There is also an urgent need to keep strict vigil on social media.”
Yogi has also sought feedback from nodal officers who have been posted in 19 sensitive districts.
The feedback will be taken by chief secretary RK Tewari, principal secretary, medical and health, Amit Mohan Prasad and director general of police HC Awasthi. On Saturday, the medical and health department constituted dedicated teams to check coronavirus infections in various districts of the state.
Yogi also batted for plasma therapy and pool testing of samples to intensify and expedite testing of potential Covid-19 patients. The decision is seen as the state government’s move to check coronavirus cases which have been on the rise in various parts of the state.
Shelter homes to be geotagged
After community kitchens, it is the turn of shelter homes to be geotagged to allow migrants to track remote location through coordinates. Earlier, the state government had joined hands with Google Maps to geo-tag more than 7,300 community kitchens. CM Yogi Adityanath has asked the revenue department to get more than 5,000 shelter homes geo-tagged. As many as 1.01 lakh people, essentially migrants, are already residing in these shelter homes for 14-day quarantine.