Record identities of sick persons or face action, Chandigarh pharmacies, doctors told

The move comes after Chandigarh was identified as a hotspot and declared a containment zone by the administration

The UT administration has directed pharmacists in the city to keep records of identity of those buying medicines for cold, cough and flu. The move comes after Chandigarh was identified as a hotspot and declared a containment zone by the administration.

All pharmacies including jan aushdhi shops and doctors are to maintain a record of the name, phone number and address of those buying medicines for fever, cold, throat, infection, flu and similar symptoms, and provide it to the director health services (DHS) on a daily basis via email or whatsapp (HT FILE)

With the Union health ministry declaring the UT a Covid-19 hotspot (red zone) on April 15, the UT administration has decided to test all those with influenza-like-illness (ILI) for the novel coronavirus. The symptoms include fever, cold, cough etc. The administration decided to adopt the testing protocol of Indian Council of Medical Research which was updated on April 9.

The district magistrate Mandip Singh Brar in his order has stated that it has come to notice that pharmacies including jan aushdhi shops, as well as doctors, particularly general physicians, running private clinics in Chandigarh, are selling and prescribing medicines to persons for flu-like symptoms.

All pharmacies including jan aushdhi shops and doctors are to maintain a record of the name, phone number and address of those buying medicines for fever, cold, throat, infection, flu and similar symptoms, and provide it to the director health services (DHS) on a daily basis via email or whatsapp.

The DHS on will formulate and execute a plan to collect data from pharmacies and general physicians on daily basis and track patients with Covid-19 symptoms and taken necessary action to control the outbreak. Any violation of this order will invite action under Section 188 of Indian Penal Code.