In view of the alarming rise in Covid-19 cases in district, Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma and Commissioner of Police Rakesh Agrawal have warned that FIRs under National Disaster Management Act would be registered against persons who violate Covid-19 guidelines in the district. They said that the number of Covid-19 cases is on the rise since last few days and from now on, strict enforcement would be done in district Ludhiana.Accompanied by senior District Administration officials, the Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner of Police today held a meeting with the representatives of private hospitals and religious heads at Police Lines, here. This meeting was also attended by ADC (D) Sandeep Kumar, Joint CP Deepak Pareek, DCP Ashwani Kapoor, ADC (General) Amarjit Bains, Civil Surgeon Dr Sukhjeevan Kakkar, besides several others.During the meeting, the senior officers said that the Punjab government has already enforced a limit of 200 for outdoor gatherings and 100 for indoor gatherings. They warned that in case of any violation regarding this, FIR under National Disaster Management Act would not only be registered against the organiser but also against the owner of the property. They urged the residents to not break any rules with regard to the Covid-19 in larger interest of the society.They also urged the residents to strictly wear masks, maintain social distancing and follow all Covid-19 related protocols, else strict action would be taken against them. The officers said that these strict measures are to be adopted to check the spread of Covid-19 in district Ludhiana. They also said that surprise checks of all hotels, marriage palaces, restaurants etc would be carried out on regular basis.
Varinder Kumar Sharma said that its alarming that the number of Covid-19 positive cases is on the rise since the last few days and today, 125 persons from Ludhiana have tested positive and 149 are hospitalised in private and 13 at Civil Hospital Ludhiana. He said that earlier, this number had gone low, but as some persons are not following the rules, the cases are on the rise.Deputy Commissioner Varinder Kumar Sharma have directed the private hospitals to earmark 80% of their existing Covid-19 beds (which they had earmarked during the peak of the pandemic) for treatment of Covid-19 positive patients. For example if any hospital had earmarked 100 beds during the peak of this pandemic, they would have to immediately earmark 80 beds in their hospital premises.They also urged the religious heads to motivate their followers to avoid visiting the religious places and instead should pray at their respective homes.They also discussed the possibility of imposing night curfew in the district and took suggestions of all the participants of this meeting.The Deputy Commissioner told the representatives of private hospitals that it is their moral and social responsibility to treat the patients during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Deputy Commissioner and Commissioner of Police urged the residents to act responsibly and assist the district administration in war against Covid-19.The Deputy Commissioner directed the officials to start Hospital bed management portal again and ensure ample supply of medical oxygen for hospitals. He also urged the residents above 60 years, and those aged between 45-59 years with co-morbidities to get vaccinated for Covid-19 vaccine if they want to completely defeat this deadly virus.