108 government staffers to screen people for Covid-19 in Amritsar

The health department on Friday started training employees of education, irrigation, sports and soil conservation departments, who will soon be deployed for screening people at the bus stand and railway station among other public places

As many as 108 employees of various government departments will now join hands with the health department in Covid-19 related duties in Amritsar, after a sudden surge in coronavirus infections in the red-zone district.

The health department on Friday started training employees of education, irrigation, sports and soil conservation departments, who will soon be deployed at various public places to medically screen residents.

“Leaving their present duties, the employees will be roped in to help the health department in screening people at the bus stand and railway station among other public places. The move comes after the Punjab government decided that expert health officials will only perform duties related to active surveillance and sampling of the suspected patients,” said additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Himanshu Aggarwal.

Civil surgeon Dr Jugal Kishore said: “Government employees will be given professional training by health officials, led by Amardeep Singh, who is the deputy mass education and information officer. They will be trained to check Covid-19 symptoms and to conduct thermal screening of people. Since the employees will come in contact with incoming passengers, they will be made aware of the use of personal protection equipment (PPE) kits to prevent getting infected.”

The district has reported 374 Covid-19 cases so far, out of which 307 have recovered and seven have died.