CHANDIGARH: Taking note of the recent increase in COVID-infected patients in rural areas, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday directed all the deputy commissioners to set up village-level isolation centres in 50 or more villages (if there are hotspots) in each district over the next two days.
Haryana on Wednesday reported 165 fatalities due to COVID-19, taking the death toll to 6,075, while 12,490 fresh cases pushed the tally to 6,52,742.
He also asked them to subsequently submit the action taken report to the office of Director General, Development and Panchayats.
During a meeting, the Chief Minister said proactive steps are being taken so as to ensure each COVID patient is provided proper treatment.
Khattar said that the deputy commissioners will set up the village isolation centres on priority in the hotspots of the district.
He further added that the CEOs of Zila Parishads will be the nodal officer of these centres while block development and panchayat officers will be among those to assist the deputy commissioners in setting up these centres.
Besides this, the services of village secretaries (gram sachivs) will be utilised to establish and supervise these centres.
Also, the services of village-level volunteers will be suitably taken for this purpose, an official statement said here.
Khattar, who had earlier this week said COVID-19 spread is not confined to urban areas only but also hitting rural areas hard, on Wednesday further stated that 50 hotspot villages will be identified by the CEO, ZP and the block development officials in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer and the DC in the first phase.
Buildings with facility of toilets and electricity like schools, panchayat ghars or community centres may be converted into village isolation centres.
The Chief Minister said these centres should be well-equipped with beds and other infrastructure and added the health department will provide essential medicines and medical equipment.
The health staff will supervise the patients and shift the serious patients to health centres, he said.
Khattar also presided over a high-level review meeting with all the cabinet and state ministers, Vidhan Sabha speaker, deputy speaker and administrative secretaries of various departments regarding the preventive measures adopted by the state government for the containment of virus spread in Haryana.
From increasing the number of oxygen beds in hospitals, setting up new oxygen plants, isolation centres and COVID care centres, the state government is leaving no stone unturned to provide adequate health facilities to every patient, said Khattar.
However, to combat the spread of COVID-19 in rural areas, special multidisciplinary teams have been constituted to conduct door-to-door health check-ups of villagers, he said in the meeting.
During the meeting, the Chief Minister also sought suggestions and feedback from the cabinet and state ministers, Vidhan Sabha speaker, deputy speaker who have been assigned the responsibility of coordinating and monitoring the COVID management measures, especially in relation to health infrastructure and availability of medicines, in the districts assigned to them.
Khattar said 110 mini buses of Haryana State Transport have been converted as ambulances.
Five ambulances are being sent to each district.
In addition to this, more mini buses will soon be converted into ambulances and sent to villages which will be deputed at primary health centres (PHCs) and community health centres, he said.
He also said 25 Haryana State Transport buses will be used to provide health facilities to the people living in rural areas.
These buses will be equipped with primary health facilities, including oxygen, and other equipment for the patients in the villages, he said.
The Chief Minister was apprised by officials that the Health Department will be conducting around 60,000 coronavirus tests per day.
He said that during the rural health check-up drive, more focus would be given towards conducting rapid antigen tests along with ensuing RTPCR tests.
The state on Wednesday reported 165 fatalities due to COVID-19, taking the death toll to 6,075, while 12,490 fresh cases pushed the tally to 6,52,742.
According to the health department's daily bulletin, the latest deaths include 23 from Rohtak, 16 each from Hisar and Bhiwani, 11 from Jind, 10 from Faridabad and 9 each from Gurgaon, Sirsa and Charkhi Dadri districts.
Among the districts which continued to report a big spike in cases include Gurgaon (2,747), Faridabad (1,237), Hisar (977), Bhiwani (802) and Sirsa (784).
The number of total active cases in the state was 1,07,058.
The total recoveries so far were 5,39,609, with over 14,000 patients recuperating during the past 24 hours.
The cumulative positivity rate was 8.16 per cent.
The recovery rate was 82.67 per cent.