New Delhi: Amid rising coronavirus cases, deputy commissioners of six worst-hit districts in Haryana have imposed a ban on the gathering of four or more people and order ‘work from home’ in all corporate and IT offices. Speaking to reporters, after chairing a state-level meeting of the coronavirus control committee, CM Manohar Lal Khattar said, “Deputy commissioners of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Hisar, Karnal, Sonipat, and Panchkula have been asked to impose if needed, Section 144 of the CrPC to control the COVID surge.” Moreover, only 50% attendance will be allowed in government and private sector offices across the state.
On being asked if the state will reimpose lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19, Khattar asserted that there will be “lockdown-like conditions” in place in the worst-hit six districts if needed, but a complete shutdown is not possible.
The CM further ordered a restriction on gatherings in functions with the maximum limit fixed at 50 people for both indoor and outdoor events in the state. In a statement, Khattar asked people to postpone marriage functions. “The authorities will only allow gatherings if it is necessary with a limit of 50 people. For funerals, only 20 people will be allowed.” Earlier, the limit for outdoor gatherings was 500 and indoor 200.
The Chief Minister further stated that private hospitals have been asked to keep 50 per cent of their beds for infection patients. “A provision for 1,000 beds have been made at the PGI in Rohtak”, he stated.
On the issue of medical oxygen, the CM said the situation is under control and there is no shortage of it in hospitals. “We had demanded 180 metric tonnes of liquid oxygen a day from the Centre, who fixed our quota at 162 MT”, he said, adding that the state government will submit a revised demand of 200 MT tonnes per day to the Centre.
Khattar said his government had placed an order for 6,000 MT of liquid medical oxygen from the Bokaro steel plant, which will arrive soon by a special train.