Chandigarh, March 12: To prevent the emerging threat of Covid-19 in Punjab, the Group of Ministers (GoM) today reviewed the preparations being made by all departments.
Instructions were issued to immediately purchase 1,000 more personal protection kits for doctors and other staff. Besides, all Deputy Commissioners were directed not to grant permission for big gatherings.
Stating this, an official spokesperson of the state government said the Group of Ministers, comprising Medical Education and Research Minister OP Soni, Rural Development Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, and Food and Civil Supply Minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, reviewed the preparations and the steps being taken by the departments concerned to prevent the spread of Covid.
Anurag Aggarwal, Principal Secretary, Health, said one confirmed and 14 suspected cases had been reported in the state.
He said passengers coming from high-risk countries must be admitted to isolation wards for 14 days, whereas those coming from low-risk countries had to submit an undertaking that they would self-quarantine for a fortnight. He said a mock drill regarding Covid would soon be conducted in the state.
DK Tiwari, Principal Secretary, Medical Education, said pre-measures had been made by medical colleges under which special training had been imparted to the staff of all three government medical colleges. He said the Centre had given an approval to conduct the primary test for Covid at the Amritsar and Patiala Government Medical Colleges and the PGIMER, Chandigarh.
Amritsar: One more suspected patient of Covid was admitted to Government Medical College here on Wednesday. He is a native of Dera Baba Nanak. On Tuesday, two boys, both aged four, suspected to be infected with the virus were admitted to the health facility.
Civil Surgeon Dr Prabhdeep Kaur Johal said, “The preliminary tests of one of these boys have came out negative and he was discharged on Wednesday. The reports of the second child will be available on Thursday.”
He further said the condition of the patient, who tested positive for Covid, was stable.
At present, the hospital has five patients, including the one who has tested positive. The hospital on Tuesday discharged four persons who tested negative for Covid.
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