E-Paper
State government deputes three officers to review and inspect Coronavirus situation in Ghaziabad
The Uttar Pradesh government has sent three special officers to Ghaziabad to carry out a daily review of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) situation, carry out
The Uttar Pradesh government has sent three special officers to Ghaziabad to carry out a daily review of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) situation, carry out inspections and send daily progress reports to state officials. In a decision taken on Thursday, the state government deputed Sudhir Garg, principal secretary (forests); Praveen Kumar , inspector general (Meerut range) and Dr AK Paliwal, state program manager, National Health Mission, Uttar Pradesh as the three officials chosen for the task.
State officials familiar with the matter said various state-level officers have been sent to 18 districts in the state that have reported 20 or more positive cases of coronavirus. Till Friday evening, the total number of cases in Ghaziabad stood at 52 and 17 of them were discharged from different hospitals.
“The special officers will have several responsibilities, such as daily inspections and reviews of foreign travellers, keeping a track of members of the Tablighi Jamaat and their contacts, telemedicine facilities, Covid and non-Covid hospitals, quarantine centres and reviews of the lockdown and emergency services,” said Awanish Awasthi,additional chief secretary (home), Uttar Pradesh.
“The officers are also expected to review the functioning of the emergency services and also ensure that infection prevention protocols are being followed at all hospitals. They will also inspect and review the food distribution programmes and the operations of the community kitchens. They will also be sending daily reports to the state government,” Awasthi said, adding that CEO of Greater Noida Authority, Narendra Bhooshan, is already present to look after Gautam Budh Nagar district, apart from Alok Singh, commissioner of police. Additionally, Dr Awdhesh Yadav, who is the joint-director (malaria) in Lucknow has also been deputed to the Gautam Buddh Nagar district.
These special officers will camp in the respective districts for about a week.
Across the state, 1,604 Covid-19 positive cases were reported till Friday evening and 204 of these cases were discharged from different hospitals. The tally also includes 24 people who died. According to Amit Mohan Prasad, principal secretary (health), 21 persons who died were also suffering from comorbidities, such as diabetes, kidney ailments, hypertension and cancer, among others.The remaining three patients were aged over 50 years.
“Most of the present cases are now emerging from the hot-spot areas and containment zones. In new directions, the UP chief minister has asked to ensure a minimum of 15 oxygen cylinders, nebulisers and pulse oximeters at L1 category hospitals, adequate number of ventilators at L2 category hospitals and a minimum of 40 ventilators at L3 category hospitals,” Prasad added.
In Ghaziabad, the officials on Friday also sealed two places at Kaila Bhatta and Khoda after Covid-19 cases were reported. They said that two patients, one each from Nandgram and Indirapuram, turned negative on Friday.
“The test report of woman patient from an ATS high-rise in Indirapuram turned negative while another man from Nandgram also tested negative. In all, we have 52 positive cases till Friday night and 17 of them have already been discharged from different hospitals. I have also issued directions to the private labs conducting Covid-19 tests to take up two samples for testing. One of the samples will be tested at their labs while the other sample will be sent to the health department, where we will get it tested at our end to confirm positive cases,” CMO Dr NK Gupta said.
Meanwhile the police have also registered an FIR against a man, a woman and several others who are lodged at a quarantine centre in Dasna for allegedly circulating a fake video, in which they claimed that a man was lying dead. The claims were busted by the health department officials on Thursday as the man was found to be alive.
He was later admitted to a hospital for checkup.“The FIR has been lodged under Indian Penal Code Section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and also under provisions of the IT Act. The FIR was lodged on the basis of complaint forwarded by the executive officer of Dasna Nagar Panchayat,” said an officer from Masuri police station.
