As a number of NRIs and stranded people from across the country are expected to reach Punjab in the coming days, chief minister Amarinder Singh on Tuesday issued a series of directives, including strict orders to the health department to ensure mandatory screening of all such returnees, to check the spread of Covid-19, with institutional quarantine for those coming back from high-risk regions of India, and hotel/home quarantine for the NRIs.
The state government has also decided to rope in universities and state-run labs. The chief minister has sanctioned an immediate amount of ₹12 crore for equipment and operational expense for 6 such institutions—Regional Disease Diagnostic Lab (RDDL), North Zone Jalandhar; GADVASU, Ludhiana; Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar; Punjabi University, Patiala; Punjab Biotech Incubator, Mohali, and Punjab Forensic Lab, Mohali.
The CM also directed the DCs to prepare a list of private hotels that can be utilised for paid quarantine, while asking the health department to make an inventory of functional/non-functional private hospitals. The decisions were announced during a video conference held by the chief minister with the health and medical experts. During the meeting, Captain also ordered an immediate readiness audit of level 1 and 2 facilities, pointing out that as of now, 21,000 Punjabis settled abroad want to return home. He also directed the expert committee to formulate its guidelines and protocols and not take any chance.
Stating that he does not believe in the reliability of the certificates that the respective nations would give to the returnees, Amarinder said the NRIs should be given the options for quarantine, on payment basis, in hotels and at home, under supervision, pending testing, which should be done within 4-5 days of arrival.
{{/usCountry}}Stating that he does not believe in the reliability of the certificates that the respective nations would give to the returnees, Amarinder said the NRIs should be given the options for quarantine, on payment basis, in hotels and at home, under supervision, pending testing, which should be done within 4-5 days of arrival.
{{/usCountry}}On those coming from within the country, the chief minister said given the Maharashtra (Nanded) experience, wherein 27% of the 1000 Punjabis who had returned so far had already shown positive results, the state government would take no chances. All such returnees would have to be quarantined in state centres, he added.
Earlier in his detailed presentation, Dr KK Talwar underlined the need for RT-PCR testing of all those returning from red zones around the country. If positive, they should be shifted to Level 1, 2 or 3 healthcare facilities as per the clinical status, and if negative, they should be strictly home quarantined for 14 days, put on COVA app, and follow-ups be done by health teams, Talwar said.
Additional chief secretary, industries, Vini Mahajan said Punjab would be the first state to adopt a “scientific strategy” for viral load testing, going beyond ICMR guidelines. The Centre for Policy Research (CPR), in association with various US and Indian universities, had come out with a comprehensive plan for such testing, she said, adding that experts from Johns Hopkins University will be providing guidance on this.