Punjab chief secretary holds meeting with experts to tackle second wave of COVID-19

Chandigarh [India], March 8 (ANI) Punjab Chief Secretary Vini Mahajan on Sunday held a high-level meeting with experts to tackle the second COVID-19 wave.
Mahajan chaired a virtual meeting of the State Health Response and Procurement Committee of the Departments of Health, Medical Education, and School Education, reviewed and discussed with experts the possible steps to effectively tackle the spread during the second wave, according to a press release.
Central Government's Joint Secretary Dr Mandeep Bhandari, who had recently visited Punjab as head of the Central team along with Dr Lakshmi from PGIMER, shared their observations that the COVID spread in Punjab is not just specific to schools alone as other places are also affected and the primary reason for the surge in cases in the State is because people are not following COVID Appropriate Behaviors and not religiously abiding the COVID safety protocols.
The state Principal Secretary (Medical Education) DK Tewari informed that in Medical Colleges, students are getting tested every 15 days and no positivity has been found yet.
He also confirmed that all Government Labs are functional for RTPCR testing with a combined capacity of more than 30,000 tests per day.
The Chief Secretary directed the Health and Medical Education Departments to strengthen their treatment facilities to deal with the second wave and fill their remaining vacancies on priority.
Mahjan said that the government is keeping a close watch and depending upon the situation, the decision to reduce occupancy or closure of restaurants, malls and cinema houses will be taken in coming days.
Principal Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) Hussan Lal said that the number of vaccination sites would be extended to District Hospitals, Sub-Divisional Hospitals, and Community Health Centres to facilitate vaccination of eligible general population.
According to the union health ministry's update on Saturday morning, Punjab had 6,661 active cases. As many as 5,898 people have so far lost their lives to COVID-19 in the state. (ANI)