Gurugram administration to form special task force to fight Covid-19

Vijay Vardhan, who holds the portfolios of finance, revenue, disaster management, home, jail, criminal investigation and administration of justice, discussed the Covid-19 situation in the city as the total number of persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus crossed 3,000 cases in Gurugram.

In a bid to review the containment measures for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the city, the additional chief secretary on Saturday held a five-hour-long meeting with senior officials of the police and district administration to discuss the preparedness against the pandemic.

The police on Saturday made adequate arrangements in the 98 containment zones in the city to enforce social distancing and the use of masks. (ANI file photo)

Vijay Vardhan, who holds the portfolios of finance, revenue, disaster management, home, jail, criminal investigation and administration of justice, discussed the Covid-19 situation in the city as the total number of persons infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus crossed 3,000 cases in Gurugram.

Vardhan directed the district administration to form a special task force to deal with the Covid-19 outbreak and its aftermath. He asked the deputy commissioner to involve doctors from Delhi hospitals, such as AIIMS, Safdarjung and others to plan a strategy for the future.

Vardhan said there has been a sharp increase in the cases in the past few days and all the stake holders will have to work together and focus on the necessary arrangements required to control the situation. He further said that the Gururgam district administration will have to work much harder than other districts since the total share of the district in the Covid burden of the state was almost 51%. He also said the state aims to review if the authorities are undertaking effective containment measures.

“We also want to assess the actual situation in the city. Gurugram is a major concern. The state will be reviewing the situation related to case recording, deaths, testing rates, availability of beds and personal protective equipment (PPE). We will also share ways of effective containment if required,” Vardhan said.

Amit Khatri, deputy commissioner of Gurugram, during the discussion said that they have done a mapping of 400 doctors and their details are available on the district administration’s website. These doctors are connecting with asymptomatic patients through their helpline number 1950 and providing online consultation. Vardhan said that the doctors should be connected to the patients living in their close vicinity so that patients can get immediate support. Also, he directed to provide counselling to positive cases so that they do not slide into depression and fear.

Highlighting the role played by city police, Muhammad Akil, the police commissioner, said that adequate arrangements have been made across the city, including vigilance, to enforce social distancing and the use of face masks. He shared figures of people arrested, penalised and booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the CrPc. “We have penalised 448 people for not wearing face masks under Section 188 of Indian Penal Code and we have booked 460 and 322 people under the Disaster Management Act. We have in total arrested 1,378 people for violating the government guidelines,” he said.

Akil said they have made adequate arrangements in the 98 containment zones in the city, including vigilance, to enforce Covid-19 distancing and the use of masks.

“We have deployed 1,850 police personnel in Covid-19 duty and we are rotating their shifts in 28 days. The personnel who are deployed in the containment zones are provided with additional protective gears and have been advised to maintain social distancing and not to touch the vehicles passing by and other articles unless required to ensure their safety,” said Akil.

The police said their planning and implementation machineries are acting in concert to minimise the impact of the disease. “We are conducting regular meetings with the station house officers(SHOs) in person and over video conferencing to monitor their areas and to give daily updates.

Around 85% of the patients of coronavirus in the city are asymptomatic in nature and are placed under home isolation, said officials.

The police on Saturday made adequate arrangements in the 98 containment zones in the city to enforce social distancing and the use of masks. The police have asked the residents’ welfare association(RWA) members to strictly adhere to social distancing and health hygiene norms to protect their residents from Covid-19.