Himachal CM instructs authorities to enhance testing, monitoring of clusters amid COVID surge

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], January 8 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday instructed the authorities to enhance COVID-19 testing, effective monitoring of clusters in view of rising COVID-19 cases in the state.
The Chief Minister was presiding over a video conference meeting with the Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police and Chief Medical Officers from Shimla to review the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in the State.
Thakur said that since the numbers of COVID-19 cases were increasing at a sharp pace, the state government was ensuring that people adopt covid appropriate behaviour.
The Chief Minister said that preparedness regarding availability of beds, oxygen PPE kits and drugs must be reviewed and all restrictions imposed by the state government must be enforced strictly.
Thakur said, "Medical experts are expecting a sharp surge in the number of cases in the next few days and weeks, thus special precautions must be adopted. The mechanism of home isolation must be made more effective and revised home isolation guidelines must be implemented."
He added that pulse oximeters and thermometers must be provided to ASHA workers and other health workers so that the patients under home isolations must be monitored regularly.
Thakur said that in case of any complications, the patients must be immediately moved to health institutions. "Effective mechanism of transportation of patients must be evolved so that the patients do not face any inconvenience," he added.
He also directed the officers to ensure adequate availability of oxygen cylinders and other necessary equipment so that in case of any emergent situation, panic could be avoided.
Thakur also felt the need for accelerated vaccination of children in the age group of 15 to 18 years and precautionary doses to health care workers.
Chief Minister directed the district administration to keep an eye on tourists not following COVID appropriate behaviour and take action against the defaulters. He also urged the tourists to strictly follow the SOP issued by the state government from time to time.
It was decided in the meeting that all the educational institutions, except Medical, Dental and Nursing Colleges in the State would remain closed till January 26, to ensure safety of the students.
Chief Secretary Ram Subhag Singh said that constant engagement with the stakeholders was vital to follow various SoPs in the State. He added that greater stress must be laid on tracing and tracking of covid patients.
Secretary Bharat Khera welcomed the Chief Minister and conducted the proceedings of the meeting. He also made a presentation of preparedness for the anticipated third wave of COVID-19.
The Deputy Commissioners also flagged steps taken by them to ensure adoption of COVID appropriate behaviour by the tourists and general public in their respective districts. They also highlighted the steps taken regarding preparedness for the third wave.
Principal Secretary Revenue Onkar Chand Sharma, Special Secretary Sudesh Mokta, Mission Director National Health Mission Hemraj Bairwa, Director Higher Education Dr Amarjeet Sharma and Dr. Rajneesh Pathania were present at Shimla with the Chief Minister, whereas DCs, SPs and CMOs attended the meeting virtually from their respective district.