Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday told the Health Department to get ready to deal with any contingency arising out of the surge in coronavirus cases and asked people to take necessary precautions. Punjab on Wednesday had recorded 490 fresh Covid-19 cases, pushing its infection tally since the outbreak of the disease to 7,75,237.
Mann, who took stock of the preparedness to tackle coronavirus at a meeting here, also asked the department to issue a detailed advisory. "It is the need of hour to ensure that people do not fall prey to the Covid-19 pandemic," said Mann, adding that the department should pull up its socks for tackling any sort of unforeseen contingency.
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The meeting was also attended by state Health Minister Chetan Singh Jouramajra, who had recently come under fire for "humiliating" the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences vice-chancellor. Jouramajra had forced the VC to lie on a dirty mattress during an inspection, after which the vice-chancellor quit.
Mann also reviewed arrangements to tackle vector-borne diseases like malaria and dengue. He asked the department to ensure that adequate arrangements are made for medicines. The Health Department should work in close coordination with other departments to check the breeding of mosquitoes, the Chief Minister said.
Underlining the need for a massive awareness drive, Mann said it will be helpful in sensitising people against covid, dengue and malaria. CM Mann also asked the department to expedite the work on state-of-the-art Punjab Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences in Mohali.
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He asked officers to ensure that the work on this prestigious project is completed by December as this will be instrumental in providing quality health services to people at affordable cost.
(With PTI inputs)
