Govt all set to limit gatherings to 100

Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, November 17

Concerned over the sudden spike in Covid cases, the state government will soon issue a new protocol for social and political gatherings to bring down the chances of transmission of the virus.

A complete ban on offering flowers, caps, shawls or anything else to cut down physical contact.

A decision in this regard was taken at a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur so as to ensure that there is no violation of social distancing norms.

Senior bureaucrats confirmed that the attendance at any social gathering, including marriages, would once again be restricted to 100 instead of the present 200. There have been several instances in Shimla, Mandi and Kullu districts where a large number of cases were reported following marriages.

Strict restrictions will also be imposed on political gatherings, limiting the number of people to 100. Also, there will be a complete ban on offering flowers, caps, shawls or anything else to cut down physical contact. Only chairs and no sofas will be allowed on the dais to ensure social distancing.

Besides, there will also be a change in the arrangements in hospitals treating Covid patients. Sources said that instead of Senior Residents from different faculties attending to Covid patients and senior doctors only visiting occasionally, a medical team comprising core faculties such as medicine, cardiology, nephrology and oncology would be constituted so that co-morbidity suffered by a Covid patient could be addressed.

“It has been seen that a majority of Covid deaths are taking place in tertiary care centres, as the patients also suffer from other ailments such as heart or kidney, which are ignored while giving treatment for Covid,” said an official.

The Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleagues, including Mahender Singh, Suresh Bhardwaj, Ram Lal Markanda, Govind Thakur and Sukh Ram Chaudhary, had already tested Covid positive. Most of the ministers are attending functions and travelling all over the state, thereby enhancing the chances of virus transmission. As many as 12 MLAs, including Reeta Dhiman, Paramjit Singh Pammi, Lakhwinder Rana, Rakesh Jamwal, Vinod Kumar, Mohan Lal Brakta and Surinder Shourie, had also tested Covid positive. Rajya Sabha MP Indu Goswami, too, was found infected with the virus, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Manali

Himachal has been reporting about 600 to 700 cases in the recent past, raising concern over the transmission rate. All educational institutions have been closed till November 25 and only if there is a decrease in the number of cases being reported daily that the government could think of re-opening them.