Chandigarh, March 19: Taking note of the low vaccinationnumbers in the state, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Fridayasked all private and government hospitals and health facilities to offerhassle-free vaccination services for at least 8 hours daily, 7 days a week,till March 31. There should be no requirement of a separate certificate if aneligible 45+ years person brings the medical record regarding co-morbidities,he further directed.
The directions came during the Covid review meeting chairedby the Chief Minister, who pointed out with concern that of the 1291 registeredprivate facilities, 891 have reportedly not administered a single dose. Heasked the district administration to come down strictly on such hospitals, stressingthat private hospitals need to join the government battle against Covid for thesurvival of the state and its people. Rates to take the vaccine in privatehealthcare institutions must be publicised and overcharging should not bepermitted, he directed the Health Department.
While he was happy to note that vaccine services were beingoffered at all PHCs and Government Hospitals 7 days a week, the Chief Ministersaid this was not enough and IEC activities needed to be immediately ramped upto urge all eligible to take the vaccine by publicising the benefits of thesame, and the fact that these vaccines are safe.
He asked all elected and local leaders to make efforts toreach out to the public and address vaccination hesitancy. Communityparticipation through Lok Sanjhedari should also be reorganised and mobilisedto address vaccination hesitancy and COVID appropriate behaviour, said theChief Minister.
Captain Amarinder directed the Health Department to beproactive in reaching out to, and ensuring coverage of all frontline workers.This must include all those who provided essential services or were on COVIDduty during the curfew and the lockdown, he added.
Adequate stocks of medicine, availability of manpower andresources should be ensured at healthcare facilities in all districts. Bedcapacity for COVID patients in L2 &L3 hospitals should be ramped up andelective surgeries should be postponed/deferred till further orders, he furtherdirected, adding that referral mechanism to L3 facilities must be in place andfunctional.
The Chief Minister said the Covid incidence in Punjab hasremained relatively low over the last one year, and the state has consistentlyremained at the 18th position among all states in India in terms of the no. ofCovid cases. Though the death rate has been a matter of concern, but at 206Deaths per million population, Punjab compares well against Delhi at 542 andMaharashtra at 431, he added.
However, it was a matter of concern, said the ChiefMinister, that after bringing the problem under control by the end of the lastyear, the state is again seeing a surge for the last one month. From a low ofaround 200 cases daily and deaths in single digits, Punjab has gone to around2000 cases per day, and the deaths are also increasing, he noted.
“We have to be prepared for this second surge,” said CaptainAmarinder, pointing out that the
1918 Spanish flu had four spikes. “We have to be preparedfor a long battle,” he warned.
The Chief Minister assured, however, that his government wasfully prepared to deal with the second wave. He thanked all the concerned departments and officers/staff for theirhard work in these challenging times and expressed the confidence that withtheir collective collective efforts, Punjab will succeed in containing thepandemic. “Please be safe, get vaccinated & take care of yourselves even asyou shoulder the responsibility of keeping others safe,” he appealed to them.
Earlier, participating in the meeting, DC Ludhiana said allthe health facilities in the district were prepared to deal with the situation,while DC Jalandhar disclosed that testing in his district had been ramped up to5000 a day, while contact tracing was at 18.6.
The DC Jalandhar further said that Covid monitors had beenput at marriage palaces and CCTV footage was being retained for 45 days. Hedisclosed that positivity rate in the district had come down among policepersonnel post vaccination. He said the district administration was making itmandatory for chemists and private practitioners to report people who come fortreatment with flu symptoms. He urged the Chief Minister to empower TransportDepartment to issue challans in case of mask violation.
Pointing to 5% positivity case in the district this month,DC Patiala said more cases were being reported from the Patiala Corporationarea. The district administration was increasing sampling to 4000 a day in thenext couple of days, he said, adding that the next two weeks were critical.
DCs of Mohali and other districts, also updated the ChiefMinister on the situation in their respective districts, as well as themeasures being taken to check the spread.