Administrator Reviews the action taken to control the spread of COVID 19 in Chandigarh

Administrator Reviews the action taken to control the spread of COVID 19 in Chandigarh

• Gatherings of more than 50 persons banned
• Call on 112 and Inform about any individual in Chandigarh who has arrived from a foreign country in the last 15 days

Sh V. P. Singh Badnore, Governor of Punjab and Administrator, UT Chandigarh today reviewed the actions taken by the Administration to control the spread of COVID 19 in Chandigarh. Today later in the evening, The Prime Minister also reviewed the preparations with all CMs today through video conference. Administrator, Advisor, Health Secretary, DC, CMC and DIG also attended the video conference

Sh Manoj Parida, Adviser, UT, Chandigarh announced that following decisions have been taken :-

1. Uptill now, 5 individuals have been tested positive for COVID 19 in Chandigarh. First case is of a young female, who was found positive yesterday. Further, three individuals (including her mother, brother and cook) who came in contact with the patient have also been tested positive. All the three newly tested patients have been admitted in GMCH-32. The Father of the girl (1st patient) has been tested negative. The sample of Driver will be taken again. Both the father and the driver have been home quarantined.

2. Secondly, a new case of a lady who was earlier admitted in PGI (returned from UK) has also been tested positive.

3. Hence, in total, FIVE cases have been tested positive in Chandigarh. The health authorities have confirmed that the condition of all the 5 individuals is stable. Moreover, 42 people have been Home Quarantined till now.

4. To prevent and control the spread of COVID 19, in the public interest, all social/ cultural, sports, political, religious, academic and family mass gathering of 50 or more people are banned till 31st march, 2020 with immediate effect. Earlier it was restricted to 100 persons. Senior citizens and children to stay indoor- appeals Adviser

5. All the residents of Chandigarh are also advised to inform Chandigarh Administration at Helpline Number 112 about any individual who, at present, is in Chandigarh and has arrived from any foreign country in the last 15 days, so that necessary preventive measures can be taken by the Administration.

6. Meeting of officials of UT, State of Punjab and Haryana will be convened regularly to take decision wrt common issues like food supply, operations of Mandis, transport etc.

7. As a preventive measure, an order under section 144 Cr.P.C has been made, wherein it has been made mandatory that the guidelines of home quarantine shall be strictly followed. Sh Anil Garg, PCS, Additional Commissioner, MCC has been appointed as Nodal officer for Contract tracing and enforcing Home quarantine. A stamp would be marked on the back of the right hand (back of palm) along with relevant date considering 14 days quarantine period. The list of all home quarantined persons will be published on the website www.chd.gov.in by the IT Department of Chandigarh Administration. An apprehension has also been raised that some people will not adhere to the home quarantine, thereby endangering public safety. Any breach of this order would invite action under 188 of the Indian Penal Code.

8. Suspected individuals are being first quarantined in their own houses. As a precautionary measure, stickers will be pasted outside these houses to make the public aware not to visit the said premises, as the same is under quarantine.

9. It is clarified, at present, there is no order to close any commercial shop. There is no intention to close essential commercial shops/ commodities including chemists, grocery stores, mandis etc. As announced by Prime Minister Supply Chain will be maintained.

10. Municipal Corporation Chandigarh along with Health Officials will ensure the complete sanitization of Public Places, Buildings and other facilities. Commissioner, MCC conveyed that in this regard, seven teams have already been constituted and they have started sanitizing public places.

11. All the residents of Chandigarh are advised to take all precautions as per the instructions issued by the government from time to time. Also, avoid sharing unverified information on social media.

12. The adviser also met the representatives of the Chemist Association. It has been decided that the rate of Masks(Basic level) will be fixed at Rs 10/-. The sanitizers will be sold on MRP or below. It is further clarified that sufficient stocks are available and hence the people should not panic. An appeal is hereby made to buy only 5 masks per person.

13. Based on the appeal made by Hon’ble Prime Minister for Janta Kurfew, on Sunday i.e 22nd March 2020 the bus service of CTU (Local and long route) will remain suspended.

14. Teaching Staff of schools and colleges are allowed to work from home and may remain in touch with school/ college students over phone/ online/ social media upto 31st March 2020. Non-Teaching staff working in schools./ colleges are allowed to put on duty on a rotation basis. None of the staff members shall leave the station without prior permission and shall be available on mobile phones.

15. In case anybody wants information with respect to Corona Virus, MyGov Corona Helpdesk can be contacted on WhatsApp (Number 90131 51515), on Central helpline Number – +91-11-239780462, Toll-free number 1075 and on Chandigarh helpline Number 112 or 9779558282.

The Adviser has also appealed to those residents who have returned from abroad recently or who were in contact with positive cases and are suspecting symptoms/ infections, that they should not come to hospital straight away. They will call the helpline no 112. Our dedicated team will go, check them at their place and, if necessary, will shift them to hospital.