COVID-19 in India: Masks Mandatory in Haryana for Health Workers, Areas Where Mass Gatherings Expected, Says Health Minister Anil Vij

Chandigarh, April 3: Amid an increase in Covid cases in some parts of the state, Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Monday said that wearing masks will be made mandatory for all health workers, and in areas where a gathering is expected to be above 100 people.

Separately, the Chandigarh administration issued an advisory asking residents to strictly adhere to Covid-related "dos and don'ts" at public places which include wearing masks in crowded areas and closed settings as well.

Vij was presiding over a meeting with senior Health Department officials on the arrangements and preparations to be made to check the spread of Covid. Vij said Covid test will be mandatory for patients arriving at hospitals with symptoms of cough and cold. Also Read | COVID-19 in India: Is the Country Seeing Another Coronavirus Wave? Experts Say Surge Is Mild but Cause of Concern.

Apart from this, he said that directions have been given to conduct the genome sequencing of patients who tested Covid positive, an official statement said here, detailing the decision taken in the meeting. Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij Takes a Jibe at Congress by Singing 'Laga Chunri Mei Daag' (Watch Video).

In its advisory, the Chandigarh Administration said "there has been a spurt in Covid cases in UT during recent days" and it has become imperative to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour in crowded places.

The UT administration has advocated preventive steps in Chandigarh to curtail transmission of the infection. An official statement said that residents must strictly adhere to the "do's and don'ts" at public places which include wearing masks in crowded places and closed settings.

Doctors, paramedics and other healthcare workers as well as patients and their attendants have to wear masks within healthcare facilities here and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, it said. If a person tests Covid positive, he/she must self isolate for seven days and in case of complication must report to a nearest health facility.

Last week, the Haryana government had issued fresh guidelines and asked all health facilities to examine the travel history of a suspected case who recently visited a a country or an area where the virus has been reported.

The state had reported 91 Covid cases on Tuesday, 57 of them from Gurugram alone. Total active cases in the state stood at 307 on Tuesday. However, on Sunday, the state reported 203 infections, 99 of them from Gurugram district and 30 from Faridabad while the total active cases in the state rose to 724.

Vij said there are 724 active patients in Haryana at present, but none of them is in the hospital. He informed that 25,404 Covid tests were conducted across the state last week.

The health minister said that following the covid-related protocols will help curb the spread of infection. He advised everyone to follow social distancing, and wearing a mask for safety.

Testing, tracing, treatment, team work, tracking and monitoring are being done in the state. Apart from this, instructions have also been issued to all civil surgeons of the state to double the testing, he said.

He instructed the officers that high risk people should be vaccinated. Apart from this, a control room should also be set up to help the patients of home isolation so that such patients can be contacted and helped.

The Health Minister also gave directions to the officers to prepare SOPs and 'dos and don'ts'. It was informed in the meeting by the officials that there are 53 testing labs in the state, out of which 26 are government and 27 privately run.

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