Shimla-Hotspots of coronavirus in Himachal Pradesh must be sealed to prevent further spread of the virus, the State Government directed the Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police and Chief Medical Officers of the State on Thursday. Chief Minister Thakur said that at present Kangra, Chamba, Sirmaur, Solan and Una districts are such hotspots.   

Jai Ram Thakur said that there will be no relaxation in curfew in hotspot areas. The directions were given to district officials that essential commodities must be provided in such hotspots through the home delivery system. Plying of vehicles will be banned in these areas.   

All public places of hot spots would be sanitized. The Active Case Finding Campaign would be launched in these areas besides opening fever clinics. Persons reporting fever and cough symptoms would be tested.

The State Government said that wearing masks would be made mandatory. The NGOs have been urged to come forward in providing home-made masks to the people. 

The officials were also directed to immediately install CCTV cameras in all major religious places of worship in Himachal, which will help to trace out people disobeying the Government orders. Strict action will be taken against such violators, the Government said.

Further, Charitable Hospital Bhotain Hamirpur district, S.S. Memorial Ashirwad Hospital Chamba, Civil Hospital, Sarahan, district Sirmaur and Agarwal Hospital Jwalamukhi in district Kangra have been notified as Secondary Care Hospitals.

Daily Update COVID-19 Himachal Pradesh

So far, as many as 5035 persons had been kept under surveillance for coronavirus in the State so far out of which 2556 people have completed 28 days of surveillance period. Ton Thursday, a total of 114 persons were tested for COVID-19 in the State. Out of this number, 57 samples have been found negative and report of 57 samples is still awaited.

Additional Chief Secretary Health R.D. Dhiman confirmed that, as of now, a total of 773 persons have been in the State for coronavirus. He said that presently reports of 28 people have been found positive, out of which two persons have been discharged. Besides, four persons have migrated to other State. The State has reported one death due to COVID-19 He said that remaining 21 persons were under treatment in the hospitals of the State. 

Solan-Pictures of a policeman approaching an elderly woman and later carrying a heavy bundle of fodder for her are making Himachal Pradesh Police proud. This policeman is being applauded by not only the people but also by his department. 

The pictures are taken in Chail area of the district where an elderly lady was carrying fodder for livestock from jungle during the relaxation period in curfew.

On seeing the elderly lady struggling with a bundle of fodder (green tree-leaves), which appeared to be heavy for her, an on-duty policeman carried the bundle on his back for her.

A resident of Kunihar in Solan district posted these pictures on his social media handle. He recognized this policeman as Head-Constable Jasvir Singh, who was also his classmate 17 years ago.

We don’t know about this policeman in his personal life, but a mention of this gesture is important if seen symbolically in context to the police-citizens relationship.

This compassionate gesture of a policeman, in a time when the police is enforcing curfew and mostly seen dealing strictly with people to make them comply with the law, is melting hearts.

Visuals of people either being beaten or punished physically for breaking curfew did attract criticism not only from the people but also from the DGP SR Mardi.

However, the same policemen are also going a step ahead to help people in various ways during the COVID-19 crisis. In various districts, there are instances where policemen are even spending from their own pockets to help the needy around them. Perhaps, pictures of all of them won’t appear on social media but good policemen are there helping people while discharging their duty. 

These pictures remind us that policemen aren’t devoid of emotion and compassion.  Therefore it becomes duty of every citizen to support the police and make its job of maintaining law and order easier.

Shimla- As the World is struggling in its fight against COVID-19, availability of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits for health professionals has also become a matter of prime concern. In this hour distress, Self Help Groups in Himachal Pradesh working under the Rural Livelihood Mission have geared up to meet the demand, the State Government Claimed today.  

Director of Rural Development and State Head Livelihood Mission Lalit Jain said that the Personal Protection Equipment kit prepared by SHGs would cost Rs. 700 and three SHGs have been trained so far with a capacity of 100 kits per day, he added. 

Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Virender Kanwar said that more than 50 Self Help Groups (SHGs) in the State were preparing and producing about 15000 masks everyday to give a helping hand in the fight against COVID-19. He said that 2000 women were involved in this task through various SHGs.

He said that about one lakh masks have been provided to various departments and organizations. The task of producing masks was being done on a war footing, he added.

He said that 3000 women farmers were being encouraged to develop kitchen gardens by utilizing minimum land so that fresh vegetables could be produced. He said that 11 young professionals have been given responsibility for guiding these women farmers and to ensure the marketing of their produce so that they could get a fair price. 

He claimed that an SHG in Sirmaur district has successfully prepared a sanitizer, which costs Rupees one hundred per 200 ml. He said that stress is being laid to train more SHGs to produce more masks.