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Himachal inches towards becoming Covid-19 free, over 3 lakh await homecoming
No new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the last eight days in Himachal Pradesh
Even as Himachal inches towards becoming free of the deadly novel coronavirus, around three lakh people are waiting to return home.
No new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the last eight days in Himachal Pradesh, said the ministry of home affairs. There are no red zones in Himachal. There are six orange and six green zones.
The Himachal government has set new health surveillance protocols for people entering Himachal Pradesh. Those wanting to return home will be allowed to travel only on e-passes.
Government data says that over three lakh residents were stranded in different parts of the country and are keen to return to their native places. Principal secretary revenue and agriculture Onkar Chand Sharma will facilitate the return of the stranded people.
The state’s borders had been choked with traffic after the ministry of home affairs lifted travel restrictions on people stranded outside the state, including students and migrant labourers.
Around 50,000 people have entered the state from different interstate borders in the last three days. All returnees have been asked to quarantine themselves at home.
“We are coordinating with other state governments to facilitate the return of people stranded in different states.” said Sharma.
FRESH SURVEILLANCE GUIDELINES
The Jai Ram Thakur-led government has issued fresh guidelines to strengthen surveillance to prevent Covid-19 from spreading.
As per the order issued by chief secretary Anil Khachi, concerned district magistrates shall appoint the heads of urban local bodies (ULBs) and gram panchayats (GP) in the territorial limits of the respective districts as ‘surveillance personnel’.
Government has directed all the local urban bodies and panchayats to have a registration facility for returnees.
Family members or relatives of returnees will register themselves at the facility immediately after their arrival or ‘surveillance personnel’ may register such names suo-moto, on receiving information from any other source.
Registration is mandatory and any violation will invite action. The gram panchayat secretary will be the nodal officer for registration of returnees. Similarly, the SDM will appoint a nodal officer for a ward or cluster of wards in the ULBs.
Designated surveillance personnel shall ensure that no returnee in their respective area remains unregistered. They will record returnees in the prescribed format and will duly inform the ASHA worker or local health worker in case of such an arrival.
Every person arriving in Himachal shall have to stay in home or institutional quarantine facility at gram panchayat level for 14 days and any violation will warrant action.
If a person is allowed to home quarantine, the surveillance officer will affix a sticker on front of such house.
The ASHA worker will mandatorily visit the house on receiving the information from the surveillance personnel and shall ascertain that there is proper space for home quarantine. If not, she will inform the surveillance officer who shall move the person to institutional quarantine.
The persons who will jump home quarantine will be moved to an institutional quarantine facility. Regular health checkups of the quarantined persons shall be conducted. Any person who is required to observe quarantine and is found violating the norms or deterring surveillance personnel from discharging their duty will be liable to be punished under the provisions of Disaster Management Act and Epidemic Act.
