Himachal ready to meet greater Covid-19 challenges: CM Jai Ram Thakur

The facilities are being strengthened further in the health institutions across the state, he said

Himachal Pradesh is competent and fully prepared to handle any situation arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic in the future, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said on Friday.

HT file

Interacting with media persons here through video-conferencing, Thakur said that the state has the necessary arrangements in place to deal with 5,000 cases if there is a community spread.

“The facilities are being strengthened further in the health institutions across the state. We are fully prepared to meet greater Covid-19 challenges,” he said.

Currently, the situation in the state was under control, the chief minister said, adding that 475 cases reported to date, of which most cases are of people who returned from other states.

In May first week, Thakur said, the state was almost on the verge of becoming coronavirus-free but the arrival of people from outside the state resulted in the increase of cases.

“These were either students or those who worked in the other states,” he said.

More than 1.95 lakh people from Himachal who were stranded in parts of the country were brought back by the government, the CM said, adding that the spread of the virus has made a worldwide impact.

CM said that the state has been tackling the situation better than the neighbouring states due to stricter quarantine norms.

He thanked his team as well as the people of the state for battling the virus.

Coronavirus is here to stay, we must march on

The chief minister added that coronavirus may stay for a long time, “but we need to march on to keep the economy afloat.”

He said that the country was in the Unlock Phase-I and accordingly public transport and other economic activities have started in the state.

He said that the country, as well as the state, has benefited from the ₹20 lakh crore stimulus package announced by the Centre.

Thakur also slammed the opposition Congress for playing politics at the hour of distress.

He alleged that opposition leaders were nowhere to be seen during the crisis but tried to take political mileage in matters where some people were involved in corruption.

“If we make mistakes, the opposition has a right to criticise us but it should be in a constructive way and not for political gains,” said the chief minister.

Thakur said that his government also took swift action in matters where people were involved in corruption be it the sanitiser scam or bribery case involving the director of health services.