Maps of test centres to be put up outside Metro stations

A senior official in the Delhi government’s revenue department said the awareness campaign proposal includes distributing pamphlets in prominent markets, religious places, government offices, and other public spaces.

Ahead of the festive season, the government has drafted plans to ramp up its coronavirus awareness campaign, even as it plans to install maps showing Covid testing centres outside major Metro stations, to encourage more people to get checked for the viral infection.

A woman wearing a face mask waits at a Delhi metro train platform. (REUTERS)

A senior official in the Delhi government’s revenue department said the awareness campaign proposal includes distributing pamphlets in prominent markets, religious places, government offices, and other public spaces, and roping in prominent personalities in Delhi to make short videos on Covid-19 awareness.

“By the end of next week, district magistrates have been asked to finalise a shortlist of prominent people who reside in neighbourhoods in their jurisdiction,” the official said.

“People go out and gather in large numbers in the festive season. An intensified Covid-19 awareness campaign is much needed to address that. The government will try to make people aware of the importance of wearing masks, social distancing, why it is better to stay home, as well as encourage people to get tested. People’s safety is our priority,” Delhi revenue minister Kailash Gahlot said.

The Delhi government, on September 28, finalised an electronic map, in which it located 320 government-run Covid-19 test centres in the city – for both rapid antigen and RT-PCR tests.

“The final map has been shared with the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) with a request to put it on display at prominent locations/sites at major metro stations (at entry-exit points and others as found appropriate) for the information of general public,” read the maps-related proposal, which HT has seen.