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UP govt draws corona protection plan for migrants
Taking no chances Uttar Prades government decides to increase one lakh beds in isolation wards and quarantine facilities. All DMs, divisional commissioners asked to implement health department plan to screen those coming back to state.
The Uttar Pradesh health department has prepared an elaborate plan to protect migrants from the Covid-19 infection, quarantine them and provide treatment to those among them who test positive for the coronavirus.
The move comes at a time when the Uttar Pradesh government has launched an exercise to bring back over one million migrant workers.
Besides, the state government has decided to increase one lakh beds in isolation wards and quarantine facilities in view of the arrival of the migrants.
Principal secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad on Saturday said the migrants’ samples will be pool tested and the testing of samples will be increased. All the district magistrates and divisional commissioners were directed to implement the plan for the migrants, he said.
The Uttar Pradesh government has already told the governments of states from where the migrants are coming back to conduct their screening or medical test before they board trains/ buses for Uttar Pradesh.
The respective state governments would hand over a list of the screened migrants to nodal officers of UP, the senior officer said. Once the migrants arrive at the bus station or the railway stations in UP, health teams will screen them again, he said.
If migrant workers are infected with coronavirus, they will be admitted in isolation wards of Covid hospitals established by the state government in various districts.
Those having symptoms of the disease will be admitted in quarantine facilities. After seven days’ quarantine, their sample will be sent for tests. If the test result is negative, they will be sent for 14 days’ home quarantine. Those without symptoms will be put in 21 days’ home quarantine in their respective villages or towns, Prasad said.
On Sunday, around 1,000 migrants are expected to arrive at the Lucknow railway station by a special train from Nashik in Maharashtra. The state government plans to bring more migrants by train from Maharashtra and Gujarat. The government has also decided to bring back migrant workers from Uttarakhand and Rajasthan by bus. Besides, 5,259 migrants from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh and 12,000 from Haryana were brought back, Prasad said.
The state government has decided to prepare a data base of migrant workers. Their names, addresses, mobile numbers and Aadhaar numbers will be collected by the respective district administrations. The database will be forwarded to the relief commissioner’s office. The labour department will also prepare a list of the skilled and unskilled migrants. The migrants who have no home quarantine facility will be kept in institutional quarantine, he said.
A village surveillance committee headed by the gram pradhan will monitor the migrants. The Asha (accredited social health activists), anganbari workers, and volunteers of Yuvak Mangal Dal will be members of the committee. In urban areas, the ward councilor will head the surveillance committee. Asha workers, civil defence members and representatives of Residents’ Welfare Association will be the members of this committee there.
Asha workers will visit the homes of migrant workers and tell their family members about the Covid protocol during the home quarantine, including social distancing, wearing masks and regular handwashing.
Outsiders will not be permitted to enter the house of a quarantined migrant. Only one member of a migrant’s family will be allowed to go outdoors to procure essential commodities. Senior citizens, children and pregnant women will be directed to maintain a safe distance from the migrant, he said.
A notice will be pasted on the door of the migrant’s house with date of the quarantine. The Arogya Setu app will be downloaded on the smartphones of migrants and Asha workers will pay home visits thrice a week to check whether they have Covid symptoms.
The infected patients will be admitted in hospital. If any migrant violates quarantine guidelines, he will be shifted to the institutional quarantine facility run by the district administration, the principal secretary said.
