Effective implementation of 'test, track, treat' strategy must: Haryana CM

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday said efficient implementation of 'test, track and treat' strategy should be adopted at district, block and village levels to combat the recent surge in COVID-19 cases across the state.

The chief minister while chairing a high-level meeting with administrative secretaries, deputy commissioners, superintendents of police, municipal commissioners, senior and chief medical officers, said every officer should remain vigilant to deal with any unprecedented circumstances that may arise due to the recent increase in fresh coronavirus cases.

Health Minister Anil Vij also attended the meeting through video conferencing from Ambala.

During the meeting, Khattar told the officers that proactive COVID-19 management strategies should be planned with aggressive surveillance, stringent containment, swift contact tracing, focused clinical management and extensive Information, education and communication activities.

"Mask wearing and following social distancing norms and standard operating procedures have to be made compulsory and enforced in the true spirit," Khattar said, according to an official statement.

The chief minister directed the deputy commissioners that while implementing COVID-19 strategies, utmost care should be given to ensure that panic is not created among the general public.

He said regular monitoring of each district, village and block should be done at district and state level.

While directing the officers concerned about monitoring of containment zones, the chief minister directed that if required, micro containment zones should be declared to combat the spread of the virus.

Proper demarcation of entry and exit points in these micro containment zones, contact tracing and clinical management should be done on priority.

Khattar said community awareness has again become the need of the hour and for this along with the government, active participation of NGOs, panchayats, volunteers and RWAs should be ensured.

Testing, screening, vaccination should be done in letter and spirit and public awareness campaigns should be launched across the state, he said.

In view of upcoming festivals, Khattar urged people to refrain from any kind of public gatherings and celebrate the occasions at home with family members.

He said no matter how many steps the government takes, desired results are yielded only when there is cooperation from people. Meanwhile, Vij directed the officers to take strict action against those who are found violating COVID-19 guidelines.

Those who are found without masks along should be penalised, he said.

He said testing and screening facilities along with ensuring proper sanitisation facilities at schools and industries should also be ensured.

Besides, testing facilities should be ramped up at all the government hospitals, he directed.

During the meeting Additional Chief Secretary Health and Family Welfare Rajeev Arora while sharing figures regarding the COVID-19 vaccination drive in Haryana, said till March 18, 8,31,953 people have been administered the vaccine.

Of them, 1,73,928 healthcare workers have received the first dose and around 1,03,417 have received the second dose.

He further said, as many as 91,088 fronline workers have received the first dose and 25,696 have received the second dose. Besides, 4,37,824 people aged above 60 years and 45-60 years have received the first dose.

According to Arora, an extensive vaccination drive has been launched across the state and in the last three days around 3.10 lakh people have been vaccinated.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)