Chandigarh diary

Civic body to order 80 oxygen concentrators 
Chandigarh Municipal Corporation is slated to buy 80 oxygen concentrators  worth Rs 1 crore. The corporation has initiated the process for buying these  concentrators and according to informed sources, it has has already placed an order. One concentrator generates 10 litres of oxygen a minute. The oxygen will be supplied to the Chandigarh Health Department. The Administration had asked the Municipal Corporation to buy the concentrators from Covid cess fund. Meanwhile, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday sought details from the governments of the two states on the Covid situation in rural areas.  The court has sought a detailed report from Haryana on the work done at the ground level.

PGIMER tweaks contact tracing norms for workers
Facing an acute shortage of workforce, the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) has now changed its quarantine policy for healthcare workers under which no tracing will be carried out for workplace contacts. They will be able continue to perform duties if they do not exhibit any covid symptoms. The revised guidelines stated that there will be no risk assessment and tracing of workplace contacts of Covid-19 positive health-care workers. All workplace contacts who are asymptomatic will continue with their duties following all measures and will be tested only if they develop symptoms.  Symptomatic workplace contacts will be tested and they will have to follow isolation guidelines if they test positive. The rest can carry out their duties unhindered.

Two more mini-Covid care centres get nod
Authorities have permitted two more organisations to set up mini-Covid care centres in the city. The permission was granted to the Rotary Satellite Club to set up a centre at the Community Centre in Sector 47, while Kandhari Beverages Private Limited will operate one at Sports Complex in Sector 34. Already, such centres are functioning in various parts of the city like Bal Bhawan in Sector 23, Indira Holiday Home and Infosys Sarai in Sector 12, DRDO Covid quarantine-cum-care centre at Sector 38-B, Aurobindo School, Sector 27 and Girls Senior Secondary School, Sector 8-B.

Second wildlife census at Sukhna concludes
In the second wildlife census at the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, leopard pugmarks were spotted. The survey, which began on May 5, ended yesterday. A good number of direct spotting of wild animals were recorded, besides indirect evidence such as pugmarks of leopards and other animals were also found. The data would be sent to the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, for further analysis. A few days ago a leopard was caught on a camera trap near a water body in Kansal forests. 

Harpreet Bajwa
Our correspondent in Chandigarh hsbajwa73@gmail.com