Mask a must at gatherings of over 100 as daily Covid cases go up in Gurgaon

GURGAON: In the wake of a rise in Covid cases in the city, the district administration has made wearing face masks mandatory at gatherings of more than 100 people. In the new Covid guidelines issued on Thursday, healthcare workers and hospital staff have also been directed to wear masks. Covid testing has been made mandatory for patients with cough and cold at hospitals.
The city reported 179 new cases on Thursday. Additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Vishram Kumar Meena reviewed the Covid situation in the city as well as the preparedness of the health department and private hospitals. Hospitals were directed to conduct tests regularly and share the data with the health department.
The guidelines were issued in view of an emergency meeting chaired by health minister Anil Vij in Chandigarh earlier this week. "In gatherings of more than 100 people, people must wear masks and follow Covid protocol," Meena said.
The ADC met the medical superintendent of different hospitals and representatives of the IMA. "Hospitals have been asked to conduct rapid antigen tests of its staff and share Covid-related data with the health department. With the recent rain, chances of an increase in cases of dengue and malaria are also high. I have directed the health department to launch awareness campaigns," he added.
Meanwhile, chief medical officer Dr Virender Yadav said apart from being Covid-ready, all hospitals should strictly follow the children immunity programme of the health department, which includes inoculating children against common communicable and preventable diseases like polio, tetanus and TB. A new portal has been started for digitalisation of records of vaccinations given to children. "Negligence in following the immunity programme can lead to cancellation of the hospital's licence," he said.
According to officials, the city has a total of 3,398 Covid hospital beds, including 2,037 oxygen beds, 875 ICU beds and 262 beds with ventilators.
Haryana has 53 testing labs, out of which 26 are run by the government and 27 are private facilities. In addition, there are 18 district molecular labs. The state has 4,867 isolation beds, 3,704 oxygen beds, 1,250 ICU beds and 733 beds with ventilators for pediatric patients, apart from 2,067 ICU beds and 817 neo-natal ICU beds. Haryana has a total of 101 oxygen plants, 907 ventilators, 7,521 oxygen concentrators, and 16,734 oxygen cylinders, according to health officials.
A drill will be organised on April 10 and 11 at different places in the state to check Covid readiness. The government is focusing on testing, tracing, treatment, teamwork, and monitoring of cases, health officials said, adding that they have been asked to double tests. According to the government, XBB.1 and XBB1.5 variants have been found to be the dominant strains so far.