While holding video conferencing meeting in wake of coronavirus with all the Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police and Chief Medical Officers of the State from Shimla today, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur directed to ensure that a responsible person is deployed at the site where works are being executed by the government agencies to maintain social distancing amongst the workers besides providing them masks.The Chief Minister said that plying of private vehicles for emergency services including medical emergency must be allowed even without curfew passes. He said only two persons are allowed in private vehicle whereas four persons in official vehicle including driver.Jai Ram Thakur said that the state government was ensuring smooth plying of trucks and other private carriage carrying essential commodities and vegetables to ensure adequate availability of essential commodities in the State. He said vehicles should be sanitized and drivers and conductor should be medically checked up. He directed the officers to keep constant check on hoarding and profiteering and strict action against erring shopkeepers.He asked the officers that farmers should be allowed to harvest their crops and motivating for adopting social distancing while working in the fields. He said that steps must also be taken for procurement of their produce so that they do not face any inconvenience due to imposition of curfew.
He said that shops dealing with farming inputs should be allowed to open to facilitate the farmers and horticulturists.Jai Ram Thakur said that there would be complete restriction on inter-district and intra-district movement and no vehicle, except permitted by the government, would ply during the curfew. He said that hot spots of coronavirus would be sealed and with no relaxation in curfew in these areas. He said that individual movement would not be allowed in the state except in seriousness nature of cases.The Chief Minister said that over 70 lakh people have been covered under the Active Case Finding Campaign and out of these about 10,000 persons have been identified with ILI symptoms. He said that till date, 700 such persons have been examined and rests have been kept under observation.Jai Ram Thakur said that the state government is concerned about the people of the State stranded outside and is in constant touch with these people and the respective state governments have been requested to ensure their proper care. He urged such people to remain wherever they are as the government would ensure their early return as soon as the situation normalizes.Chief Secretary Anil Khachi said that guidelines of Union government regarding relaxation in few activities would be strictly adhered to. Education Minister Suresh Bhardwaj, Director General of Police S.R. Mardi, Additional Chief Secretaries Manoj Kumar and R.D. Dhiman, Principal Secretaries J.C. Sharma and Sanjay Kundu also attended the meeting.