Noida: Medical staff to be booked if found on leave during COVID-19 outbreak

Noida: The health department of Gautam Budh Nagar is faced with lack of adequate manpower in the fight against Sars-Cov-2 as many employees attached with the health

Noida: The health department of Gautam Budh Nagar is faced with lack of adequate manpower in the fight against Sars-Cov-2 as many employees attached with the health department and government hospitals have gone on leave following the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.

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To make sure staff report to work, the district magistrate has issued an order that people attached with the health department have to join work with immediate effect as leaves of all government employees have been cancelled in the district following the Covid-19 outbreak.

The order directed all absentees to join work by 10am Friday and to submit an explanation for their absence by April 5 to avoid further action.

Newly-appointed Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate Suhas LY has said that officials attached with the health department will face legal action under Section 51 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, which calls for one year of imprisonment along with a fine and two years of judicial custody and a fine if any person dies or property gets damaged.

“The situation in Gautam Budh Nagar is serious due to the number of cases of coronavirus. It has been noticed that many workers and officers are not fulfilling their duties and are absent, despite repeated reminders from the health department. Declaring the disease a disaster, the state has cancelled leaves of all workers and officers, with clear instructions. This is a very serious matter. In this situation, legal action will be initiated under section 51 of the Disaster Management Act,” said the order of the district magistrate.

Despite the new orders, if workers and officers attached with the health department do not show up for duty and do not submit an explanation, legal action will be initiated, informed the DM.

In addition, the district administration has been talking to the Indian Medical Association (IMA) to arrange isolation wards for Covid-19 patients. “We are holding meetings with the IMA, Noida and they have assured to help us in the fight against coronavirus. They have started making arrangements and in a day or two, all arrangements will be completed,” said Suhas LY, DM.

The IMA has arranged around 70 ICU beds, including 15 for dialysis and 108 for isolation for Sars-Cov-2 patients. These arrangements have been made at Fortis, Jaypee, SRS, Indogulf, Felix and Chikitsa NMC Superspeciality hospitals. At least 100 beds each are being readied at Sharda, Kailash and NIU hospitals in the district.

Currently, the district has 512 VTM kits, 1,100 personal protection equipment kits, 513 N95 masks and 5,000 triple layer masks, informed the DM.