Shimla-Himachal Pradesh Government yesterday launched a dedicated Covid-19 Helpline at ‘Mukhyamantri Sewa Sanklap Helpline 1100 for facilitating the people regarding COVID-19 related issues.

The Information Technology Department informed that caller can call on toll-free number 1100 from 7 am to 10 pm for seeking help regarding COVID-19 related issues.

The call executive would register the complaint and contact the concerned authority for providing necessary help to the person regarding various issues such as test, vaccination, home quarantine, medicines, ambulance and oxygen etc.

Yesterday, the state had reported 45 COVID-19 fatalities and almost 4000 cases. The fatality list also included a 12-year-old boy from Solan district.

Also Read: Himachal Reports 3,942 New Cases, 45 Deaths from Coronavirus Including 12-Year-Old Boy in Last 24 Hours

Further, the government yesterday asked the district administration and police officials to ensure effective implementation of the corona curfew imposed in the wake of a sharp surge of Covid-19 cases in the State.

The government claimed that the state has sufficient production of oxygen but the only constraint was cylinders for transportation of the oxygen. Approval had been accorded for setting up laboratories at Una and Kullu for which Rs. seven crores had been sanctioned. The government said that it’s looking at possibilities for setting up of testing lab in three government universities and IIT Mandi.

Shimla-Himachal Pradesh reported 45 new fatalities due to coronavirus on Thursday taking the total death toll of the state to 1,724 according to official data provided by the government. Kangra district reported the highest number of deaths with 17 casualties in the last 24 hours while Shimla and Solan reported eight new fatalities separately.
 
On Friday the state’s total Covid cases reached 1,18,729 as 3,942 new infections were reported in the last 24 hours. There are currently 2,7,756 active cases of infection in the state. Solan district also reported a 12-year-old patient of coronavirus who died due to severe symptoms of Covid-19 that included acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The deceased had no other pre-exiting medical conditions, according to the health department. 

Today, a total of  18698 samples were taken. Till now the state has sampled a total of 15,90, 372 citizens in the state. The Covid test results of  12,630 people are still awaited. 

View the District-wise Details of all COVID-19 Cases for May 6, 2021 (Till 7 pm) Below:

Meanwhile, with the rising number of cases, the Himachal Pradesh government has decided to impose a corona curfew effective from May 7 i.e. Friday. The curfew will come in effect from 6 am on May 7 to 6 am on May 17. During this period the state government will go ahead with its vaccination drives. Assembly of more than five people is not allowed under the curfew, however, in case of a wedding ceremony or a funeral up to 20 people can gather with the permission of the District Administration.

Also Read: HP Govt’s Corona Curfew Guidelines: Read What’s Allowed, What’s Not

With the spike in cases across the country, the government of Himachal Pradesh has introduced some precautionary measures for travellers planning to visit the state. For anyone who wants to travel to Himachal Pradesh during the curfew duration, a negative RT-PCR test report not older than 72 hours is mandatory. This rule is applicable for those travelling to the state by air, rail, and buses.

To boost the number of medical staff on the ground, the state government decided to rope in final year students from MBBS, nursing, and contractual doctors in Covid hospitals. According to a notification, the state will be paying an incentive of Rs 3,000 per month to the fourth-year medical students while final year nurses will be paid Rs 1,500 per month for their duty in Covid wards. On Thursday, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur also launched a dedicated Covid-19 Helpline at ‘Mukhyamantri Sewa Sankalp Helpline’ 1100 for facilitating people regarding covid related issues.

View the District-wise Details of all COVID-19 Casualties for May 6, 2021 (Till 7 pm) Below:

Shimla-A corona curfew was imposed in Himachal Pradesh as the number of daily COVID-19 cases and fatalities continue to spiral upwards. Yesterday, the state had reported 3842 cases and 32 fatalities, according to the statistics of the state health department. 

The annual examination of 10th standard of Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education was cancelled. It was decided that all the students would be promoted to 11th class by the Board as per the norms suggested by CBSE for its students for the 10th standard examination. It was also decided that 12th standard examination of Himachal Pradesh Board of School Education and annual examination of colleges would also remain suspended till further orders. 

Corona curfew would remain in force in Himachal Pradesh with effect from 6 AM of 7th of May,2021 to 6 AM of 17th May 2021. The corona curfew, however, would be different from a complete lockdown in many ways.

Also Read: Corona Curfew in Himachal Pradesh From May 7, Public Transport to Remain Operational, Educational Institutes Closed Till May 31

During this period, depending upon availability, vaccination would continue in places as notified by the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Himachal Pradesh from time to time. Eligible people as advised by the department will be allowed to travel to the designated CVCs in their vehicles /taxis/auto-rickshaws by following guidelines.

HP Government has notified the new standard operating procedures (SOPs) which are as given below (unedited):    

1. People desirous of / required to undertake testing for Covid-19 shall be allowed to travel to designated Government / Private Covid-19 Testing Centre in their vehicles /taxis /auto-rickshaws by following guidelines to that effect.
2. During the curfew period, assembly of more than 5 people shall be treated as unlawful.
3. However, a maximum of 20 people only will be allowed in gatherings related to marriages /funerals with permission of the District Administration.
4. Government and Private offices/establishments shall remain closed. Government employees will work from home a shall not leave their headquarters without permission.
5. All educational, training, coaching institutions, etc. shall now remain closed until 31st May 2021. However, MBBS(4TH and 5th year), BDS (4th year), Nursing classes(3rd year) only will continue. Physical conduct of the examinations by State/ national/ International bodies shall be allowed on a case to case basis by the respective Departments with due intimation to all concerned authorities.
6. All cinema halls, malls, market complexes/ Bazar/ gyms/ sports complexes swimming pools/ entertainment parks/ theatres/ auditoriums/ assembly halls and related activities and similar places shall remain closed.
7. Liquor shops /vends, ahatas, bars will remain closed.

During the corona curfew, the following activities are allowed: 

1. All health services (including AYUSH) to remain functional, such as:
2. Hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, telemedicine facilities
3. Dispensaries, Chemists,  pharmacies, all kinds of medicines hops including Jan Aushadhi Kendras and medical equipment shops.
4. Medical laboratories and collection centres
5. Pharmaceutical and medical research labs, institutions carrying out COVID-19 related research
6. Veterinary Hospitals, dispensaries, clinics, pathology labs, sale and supply of vaccine and medicine
7. Authorized private establishments, which support the provisioning of essential services, or efforts for containment of COVID-19, including home care providers, diagnostics, supply chain firms serving hospitals
8. Manufacturing units of drugs, pharmaceutical, medical devices, medical oxygen, their packaging material, raw material and Intermediaries.
9. Construction of medical/health infrastructure including the manufacture of ambulances

Financial sector: following to remain functional:

1. Bank branches and ATMs, IT vendors for banking operations. Banking correspondents (BCs), ATM operators and cash management agencies.
2. Insurance companies
3. Non-Banking Financial Institutions (NBFCs) including Housing finance company (HFCs) and Micro Finance Institutions (NBFC-MFIs) with bare minimum staff.

Co-operative Credit Societies

Efforts should be made to operate with minimum staff and they should be encouraged to Work from Home wherever possible and feasible.

Public Utilities

1. Operations of oil and gas sector, including transportation, distribution, storage, retail of products, for example, petrol, diesel, kerosene, LPG etc.
2. Generation, transmission and distribution of power at the state level.
3. Postal services, including post office
4. Operations of Utilities in water, sanitation, and waste management sectors, at municipal/local levels in the state
5. Operation of Utilities, including the movement of vehicles and personnel, providing telecommunications, DTH and internet services, including maintenance of telecom towers and recharge facilities for prepaid mobile connections.

Commercial and private establishments  as listed below

1. Ration shops, including PDS and neighbourhood/roadside/street corner shops, dealing with food, groceries, fruits and vegetables, dairy and milk booths, meat and fish, animal feed and fodder, fertilizers and pesticides including their transportation, warehousing, and related activities. These establishments shall follow all Covid-19 safety procedures and shall mandatorily close by 6 PM
2. Hotel, restaurant and dhabha shall operate as per already issued SOPs by Department of tourism
3. Home delivery by operators/online delivery of all goods/services by e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, Blue Dart, DTDC,
4. Myntra etc.
5. Retailers of food and grocery items shall also be allowed to provide home delivery services
6. Print and electronic and social media
7. Telecom, internet services, broadcasting and cable services/DTH and optical fibre
8. Petrol pumps, LPG, petroleum and gas retail and storage outlets.
9. Power generation, transmission, and distribution units and Services
10. Government-approved common service Centers at Gram panchayat level
11. Cold storage and warehousing services.
12. Private security services and facilities management services for maintenance and upkeep of office and residential complexes.
13. Establishments used/ earmarked for quarantine facilities
14. Shops dealing in construction equipment and supplies such as cement, iron, chips etc

Transportation

1. Inter-state and intrastate movement of Public transport shall continue with occupancy restricted at 50% and subject to SOPs issued by Transport Department.
2. Passengers travelling to the state by air, bus or railway shall register on the e-pass portal of the HP Government before the commencement of the journey.
3. Movement, loading/unloading of goods/cargo(inter and intra) including transportation of all goods is allowed.
4. All goods carriers whether loaded or unloaded
5. Member of print and electronic media with valid ID cards shall be allowed to move in vehicles as per SOPs and covid protocols.
6. All vehicles belonging to Government/local bodies or authorized organizations involved in essential services, emergency and COVID-19 Management Shall be allowed to play.
7. Inter and intrastate movement of goods/cargo for inland and exports.
8. Transportation for all medical personnel, nurse, paramedics staff and other hospital support services.
9. Private vehicles subject to a limit of 50% occupancy with COVID appropriate behaviour and protocols shall be allowed for emergent  reasons,
10. All agricultural, horticultural, animal husbandry and related activities to remain fully functional.
11. Farming operations by farmers and farm workers in the field(sowing, nursery preparation, land preparation, irrigation, planting, harvesting, threshing, processing and packaging etc.
12. Any other activities related to agriculture, horticulture, floriculture like procurer distribution, packaging, warehouse, mantis, cold storage, shops dealing with agricultural machinery and its spare parts, fertilizers, insecticides, pesticides etc.
13. Collection, processing, distribution and sale of milk and milk products by processing plants including transportation and supply chain.
14. Operation of animal husbandry farm including poultry farms and hatcheries, fisheries and livestock farming activities.
15. Industries/Industrial establishments both government and private sector

16. All Industries operating in both urban and rural areas with strict adherence to SOPs and COVID-19 safety protocols.
17. The Deputy Commissioners shall monitor the SOPs which are to be strictly followed by the industries in their operations. The head of the Industrial Unit/Corporate office shall regularly brief the DC in this regard.
18. Construction Activities will be allowed in both government and private sector

19. All construction activities, contract works at sites along with the associated movement of vehicle/labour in this regard.
20. The SOP is to be followed in the government as well as private construction sites and movement of personnel vehicles to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
21. Offices of the Gov’t of India, its autonomous/subordinate offices will remain open, as mentioned below:
22. Defense Forces, Central Armed Police Forces, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Disaster Management and early warning agencies(IMD, SASE, CWC), Airport Authorities of India, Railways, National informatics Centre(NIC), Food Corporation of India(FCI), NCC & Nehru Yuva  Kendra(NYKs) any other central Government office engaged in essential services or assisting in the management of COVID-19 at minimum capacity and shall encourage work from home.

Offices of state government, its autonomous bodies and governments will remain open as mentioned below.

1. Police, Homeguards, civil defence, fire and emergency services, disaster management, prisons, municipal services along with offices dealing with essential services remain open and will function without any restrictions. Further HPPWD and Jal shakti department shall function with minimum staff following covid protocols.
2. District administration and treasury (including field offices of Accountant General) will function with restricted staff, however, delivery of public services shall be ensured and necessary staff will be deployed for such purpose.
3. Forest offices, staff/ workers required to operate and maintain zoo, nursery, wildlife, fire fighting in the forest, water in plantation,  patrolling and their necessary transportation movement. The Forest office include forestry plantation and related activities, including the Silviculture  
4. All other Departments of state government shall remain close during the lockdown period.
5. People with disabilities, pregnant and lactating women, the person with comorbidities shall work from home.

Offices of the Private/ Civil society sector:

To encourage work from home for their staff.

General guidelines:

1. Face coverings/masks compulsory
2. Physical distancing must
3. Spitting punishable
4. Safety and protection of vulnerable people 

Following people are advised against outdoor movement:

1. Lactating and pregnant women
2. Children below 10
3. Seniors above 65
4. People with comorbidities.