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Increase testing capacity to 6,000 a day by May 15: Capt Amrinder Singh
The Punjab CM directed the health department to conduct fresh tests on all returnees instead of relying on screening done in other states
CHANDIGARH
Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday asked the health department to ramp up the RT-PCR Covid testing facilities in the state to 6,000 a day by the May 15, instead of the targeted 5,800 a day by May-end.
Chairing a cabinet meeting through video-conferencing, the CM directed the health department to conduct fresh tests on all returnees instead of relying on screening done in other states.
The CM said as several staffers at the Hazur Sahib gurdwara had tested positive, the Akali Dal’s claim that there were no positive cases in the Nanded and the pilgrims had got infected on the way back or on reaching Punjab had been trashed.
“This was a crucial time in the state’s fight against Covid-19,” the CM said.
Directing the health department to come out with a plan to advance its schedule for increasing the testing capacity, the Amarinder stressed the need to be prepared for the worst.
The CM said he had already asked the chief secretary to coordinate with the central government to scale up the testing capacity to 20,000 a day to cope with the influx of migrants and others expected to return to the state over the next few weeks in the wake of the new directives of the Government of India.
Amarinder said he had also asked the vice-chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, to explore the feasibility of setting up a testing facility in Jalandhar for which the government was ready to sanction an immediate grant of Rs 1 crore.
In response to a suggestion by some ministers, the CM agreed to examine their proposal for home quarantine of the returnees in coordination with panchayats.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet on Saturday approved extension of parole period beyond 16 weeks during epidemics and disasters, for those sentenced to 7 years or less.
The cabinet also cleared various appointments, on outsourcing basis, for critical posts at the government medical colleges in Patiala, Amritsar and Faridkot. The appointments, already approved by the finance department for six months, will enable the government medical colleges to appoint vital staff in the viral testing laboratories, isolation wards etc, to enable 24X7 functioning, said an official spokesperson.
The committee headed by Dr Raj Bahadur will decide and finalsze the appointments for the posts of specialist doctors, nurses, ward attendants, technicians, lab attendants, apart from directors and other.
The cabinet was informed that proposal has been sent to the Government of India to set up four new labs in the district hospitals at Barnala, Rupnagar, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur. Additionally, a proposal to procure 15 TruNaat machines has been moved. State is also considering starting CBNaat testing in Patiala and Faridkot.
The cabinet also accorded ex-post facto approval to the appointment of 4,300 guardians of governance and agreed to amend the transfer policy of the school education department to allow teachers seeking transfer after 18 months of posting in the border areas, instead of the earlier 3 years, once new recruitments are completed.
