COVID-19 battle: Punjab CM appeals people to 'strictly adhere' to safety protocols

Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], June 7 (ANI): While asserting his government's total preparedness to handle the COVID-19 crisis, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday appealed to the people to strictly adhere to the safety protocols and restrictions to save themselves, their families and the state.
"Though the state had adequate essential equipment to manage any further spread of the pandemic, which it had been largely able to control so far, the Chief Minister said he did not wish the stocks to be pulled out of storage for use as his entire focus was on saving lives," said an official statement.
During his interaction on the latest FB Live edition of #AskCaptain, the Chief Minister said the COVID-19 situation in Punjab had so far been manageable due to the strict lockdown imposed in the state and the cooperation of the people.
Citing figures, Chief Minister disclosed that on Friday alone, 4,600 challans had been imposed for failure to wear a mask in public, 160 for spitting, and around two dozen for not adhering to social distancing norms. Such irresponsible behaviour could not be permitted as it could push Punjab on the same path as many other states in India.
"In the first stage, 4,248 beds in government hospitals had been set aside, with another 2,014 now being added, while the private hospitals had allocated 950 beds for COVID-19 patients, he disclosed. The total number of isolation centres identified to accommodate a large number of cases if the crisis aggravates stands at 52 government and 195 private," he said according to the statement.
Of the 554 ventilators available, only one was in use, as of Saturday, said the Chief Minister, adding that in addition to the equipment already handed over to hospitals and other frontline workers, the Health Department had stocks of 4,88,000 N95 masks, 64 lakh triple layer masks, 2,28,000 PPE kits and 2,223 oxygen cylinders.
Responding to a complaint of private hospitals charging exorbitantly for admitting COVID-19 patients, the Chief Minister said he will ask the Medical Department to check, but urged people to go to government hospitals which were equipped with the best-in-class facilities and staff, and had shown an excellent record in terms of enabling recovery of COVID-19 patients. (ANI)