E-Paper
Haryana govt declares coronavirus an epidemic for a year
270 isolation wards with 1,206 beds have been set up in government and private hospitals in the state to deal with any contingency
CHANDIGARH: The Haryana government on Thursday declared the contagious coronavirus disease (Covid-19) an epidemic for one year.
According to the state health department, 44 samples of suspected cases were sent for tests till Wednesday. Of them, 38 tested negative for coronavirus, while reports of six people – four from Gurgaon and two from Panchkula – are awaited.
“Covid-19 has been declared an epidemic in Haryana,” state health minister Anil Vij tweeted. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Covid-19 a pandemic. A pandemic is the spread of a disease across a country or many countries, while an epidemic is the spread of an infectious disease in a large number of people or community at a time.
More than 270 isolation wards with 1,206 beds have been set up in government and private hospitals in the state to deal with any contingency.
FLU CORNERS IN ALL HOSPITALS
Rohtak’s Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) has been designated as the tertiary care centre for the treatment of critical patients.
The Haryana Epidemic Disease, Covid-19 Regulations, 2020, to contain the spread of the virus comes into immediate effect and will be in place for a year.
All hospitals in the state have been directed to set up flu corners for the screening of suspected coronavirus cases.
PENALTY FOR MISINFORMATION
According to the regulation, no person/institution shall use print or electronic media to spread misinformation on Covid-19. If the person does not have permission of the department of health and family welfare and is found indulging in any such activity, he/she will be punished.
No private laboratories have been authorised to take or test coronavirus samples in the state.
The government has also asked people with a travel history to coronavirus-affected countries to report to the nearest government hospital.
The Act makes it mandatory for all government and private hospitals to record the travel history of a person if he or she travelled to any country or area affected by Covid-19. In case the person has any such history in the past 14 days and is asymptomatic, he/she has to be in home quarantine for 14 days.
If a coronavirus case is reported from a village, town, ward, colony, settlement, the administration of the district concerned shall have the right to implement containment measures, including sealing of the area, barring entry and exit of population from the containment area, closure of schools, offices and banning public gatherings, besides other measures.
In case a suspected case refuses admission or isolation, the Act empowers the authorised officers to forcefully admit and isolate the suspected case for 14 days or till lab reports are received.
No suit or legal proceedings shall lie against any person for anything done or intended to be done in good faith under the Epidemic Disease Act unless proved otherwise, the notification added.
