By OUR STAFF REPORTER
DEHRADUN, 20 May: Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat today reviewed the status of COVID-19 in the state through video conferencing with senior government officials and district magistrates. Rawat told the officers concerned that strictest action be taken against those who violate home quarantine.
Complaints made by village heads, ASHAs, Anganwadi workers in this respect needed to be taken seriously and urgently.
The Chief Minister said that people had to be constantly made aware of things like necessity of masks, sanitation, social distancing, etc. He asked them to maintain a dialogue with social workers, public representatives, media and other intellectuals.
He asserted that those that those wanted to return to Uttarakhand ought to be brought back on a priority basis. People returning home from outside also ought to be psychologically empowered and kept busy.
Rawat said that all quarantine centres of the state had to be kept clean and sanitised. The government would reimburse the rural panchayats the expenditure incurred towards this. Observing that the number of cases had suddenly risen in Uttarakhand due to the return of migrants, he said that the state ought to be fully prepared to deal with the developing situation and to ensure that the recovery rate of the patients remained high.
Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh added that those coming to the state from the red zones would be mandatorily kept in institutional quarantine at designated places. DG, Law & Order, Ashok Kumar; Secretary, Health, Nitesh Jha; Secretary, Transport, Shailesh Bagoli; Secretary, Finance, Amit Negi; Radhika Jha, Secretary to the CM; Secretary Dilip Javalkar, were among those present at the meeting. The DMs were also present at the video conference.