The worst fears of import of coronavirus by allowing the entry of thousands into Himachal seem to be coming true as a new positive case came to light today. The case has come at a time when Himachal was aiming to be corona-free as there was only one active case in Solan. Now, the number of total cases had risen to 41.

A 30-year-old youth of Jogindernagar in Mandi district, working in a multinational company in Delhi, tested positive. This is the first case of a person, who had entered the state on an e-pass issued by Mandi DC, testing positive for corona. The person, working in a telecom company, returned home on April 29 in a taxi along with three others. He has now been shifted to Nerchowk medical college while the administration will take the samples of his family and other contacts.

A 26-year-old girl, hailing from Gurdaspur, who had been residing at a labour hostel at Jhad Majri in Baddi, also tested positive at her native village in Gurdaspur, where she reached from Baddi on April 28. The case will be counted in Punjab.

The girl had been lodged in the hostel since lockdown but visited GMCH-32, Chandigarh, on April 26 as she was suffering from stones. Immediately after return, she fell sick and left for her home in Gurdaspur. The samples of 22 primary contacts, including other girls and the staff of the hostel, will be tested tomorrow.

Source : The Tribune

The government will provide HRTC buses to bring back Himachalis stranded in the tricity (Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula and adjoining areas). On friday it had appointed nodal officers to bring back natives stranded in different states.

Buses will be available for Kangra, Chamba, Una and Hamirpur districts at Himachal Bhawan, Sector 28, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh, on May 3, 6 am onwards. People will be accommodated on the first come first served basis after a preliminary medical checkup, a spokesperson for the government said here today.

Photocopies of Aadhaar card or any other government identity proof would be required and boarding would be allowed only after medical examination, he added. Everyone would have to give an undertaking that they are not coronavirus positive.

Source : The Tribune

The central government has extended lockdown by two more weeks, the Ministry of Home Affairs said on Friday.

The lockdown will be effective from May 4.

A press release issued by the MHA spells out new guidelines regulating activities during this period based on risk profiling of the country’s districts. MHA’s new guidelines divide the country into red, orange and green zones depending on coronavirus cases being reported.

The guidelines are mainly an attempt to restart a completely stalled economy, and provide some relaxations in green and orange zones.

Source : The Tribune

Over 23,000 people from Himachal Pradesh who were stranded outside the state due to the coronavirus lockdown have returned to their native places in their own vehicles in the last three days after getting e-passes from respective district magistrates, police said on Tuesday.

Thousands of people from the state are reportedly stranded in Punjab, Delhi, Chandigarh and other parts of the country since the nationwide lockdown began on March 25. There is no information whether the state government is making any arrangement for their return.

As per data provided by Superintendent of Police (law and order) Khushal Sharma, a total of 23,361 stranded people from the state have returned to their native places in 6,396 vehicles from April 26 to April 28.

Director General of Police (DGP) Sita Ram Mardi said the residents should maintain social distancing on the HP-Punjab border near Una’s Mehatpur barrier while returning to the state.

He asked them to download Aarogya Setu app and remain in home quarantine for 14 days after returning to their native places.

Three days after The Indian Express reported how a 63-year-old who was dependent on oxygen was stuck in one room in his daughter’s PG room in Sector 11, Panchkula, the Himachal Pradesh government on Monday took back Sood and dropped him home at Jubbal safely.

The Haryana government too arranged Sood’s medicines and other essentials for the journey. On Sunday night, the Himachal government had issued the movement pass.

The Indian Express had reported how Sood whose lungs are just 27 per cent functioning and has other serious ailments had come with his wife to attend his daughter’s engagement but got stranded in one room due to the lockdown.

With an obsolete oxygen machine, the 63-year-old found it difficult to breathe and would even spend sleepless nights on a verandah attached to the room as the obsolete oxygen machine emitted a lot of heat, thereby suffocating the room.

After the story, a resident gave his new oxygen machine to Sood which does not emit heat.

Until the Himachal government completed the formalities of movement and medical procedure, the Haryana government too arranged ration and all other essentials required by Sood.

“We did not face any problem during the entire journey and everything was smooth. We thank everyone for their support and for saving my father,” Raashi, Sood’s daughter, said.

Source : The Indian Express

Shimla : Two more cases of Covid-19 infection have come to light, one each in Kangra and Chamba districts, taking the count to 35. Both were the natives of the state and had come back from Jalandhar.

Kangra district had earlier reported four positive patients. One of them, a Tibetan died in Tanda medical college on March 23. Two residents of Kangra with travel history had tested positive and were admitted to Tanda medical college. Both have been discharged from the hospital.

In Gangath, a person, who attended the Tablighi conference in Delhi, had tested positive. He has also been discharged from hospital. But the new case has increased the worries of the administration.

In Chamba district also, four persons, who had attended the conference, tested positive. All were admitted to medical college, Nerchowk, in Mandi.

Chamba CMO Dr Rajesh Guleri said the person, who tested positive, had come from Jalandhar and was kept under quarantine.

Source : The Tribune

Shimla : Even though the lockdown in the state is likely to be extended by another fortnight the government could allow manufacturing in the industrial area in a phased manner with ministers, senior bureaucrats and heads of department attending office with skeletal staff from April 16.

Sources said though a formal announcement of the extension of the lockdown till April 30 will be announced tomorrow after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address, a revival plan for the economy has been chalked out. The government has its revival plan ready to restore the economy and bring back normalcy.

The Cabinet will hold its meeting on April 15. From the next day efforts will be made to resume the normal functioning of the government as chief minister, ministers, secretaries and heads of department will attend office daily though with skeletal staff. The holiday in schools, colleges, universities and educational institutions will be extended for the time being.

Shimla : Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has dithered from making any announcement on the extension of curfew that expires on April 14, but the government is preparing a staggered exit plan to bring the state back to normalcy after a 21-day lockdown.

Presiding over a high-level meeting with top officials here today, the Chief Minister said the government would prepare the exit plan keeping in view the economic activity and food requirements of the vulnerable sections of society.

The Chief Minister, however, clarified that the exit plan would be initiated only and only when there was an initial flattening of infection curve and there follows a trend indicating that Himachal will reach a stage zero infection.

All identified hotspots would be isolated from other parts where no case was detected. The supply of food and other essential commodities would be entrusted with the police and the local administration in such areas, he added.

The plan would be prepared keeping in view health and economic variables as well. The capacity of the state’s healthcare system to protect public life, personnel discharging essential services and medical professionals deployed to stem the epidemic during the days to come and capacity to build resilience against the disease would be taken into consideration, he said.

Adviser, Planning, Dr Basu Sood made a presentation on the draft exit plan. Chief Secretary Anil Khachi, Director General of Police SR Mardi, Additional Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar and other officials were present to discuss the issue.

Source : The Tribune

Dharamsala : Timely lockdown, curfew and strict measures that forced people inside their homes have helped stem community spread of corona virus infection in Kangra district.

Kangra was the first district of the state which reported corona virus infections on March 21. Till date, four Covid-19 positive infection cases have been reported in the district. Out of these, one Covid positive patient, 69-year-old Tibetan, who had returned back from the USA, died in Tanda medical college on March 23.

Facilities at TMC

• 20 bed isolation facility in Tanda Medical College (TMC).
• 3 ventilators for Covid positive patients.
• 3 doctors and three nurses attend to Covid positive patients in an eight-hour shift.
• 9 doctors and nine nurses attend to patients in a day.
• 14 days doctors and nurses quarantined.
• 5 positive patients being treated in Kangra — one from the district and 4 from Una.

After his death the entire McLeodganj area was sealed on March 23 and restrictions on movement of people in the area continue till date.

Two local residents of Kangra — a lady from Dobh village in Shahpur sub-division, who had returned back from Dubai, and a youth, who returned from Singapore — were tested positive on March 21. They were immediately shifted to Tanda medical. Both of them have now been discharged from Tanda medical college after they tested negative.

Now Kangra has just one Covid 19 positive patient from Gangath area in Indora sub-division. He had attended the Tablighi Jamaat conference in Delhi.

Gangath area has been declared a hotspot in Kangra district. Under directions of the state government nobody would be allowed inside or outside the Gangath area. Door-to-door checking would be conducted in Gangath area and people suffering from influenza or sore throat or fever would be tested and given hydroxychloroquine tablets, Deputy Commissioner Kangra, Rakesh Prajapati informed The Tribune.

Strict lockdown measures adopted by the administration have prevented the community spread of virus in the district. All the 50 persons, who came in direct contact with one remaining Covid positive patient, have tested negative. The contacts with other Covid infected people have also tested negative.

Doctors at Tanda medical college located in Kangra district have been treating the Covid positive patients from Kangra and Una districts. Though initially there was shortage of PPE suites and testing kits in Kangra, supplies have been received. The doctors who are treating the Covid positive patients have to be continuously on duty for eight hours after which they are replaced by other staff members. The doctors and paramedical staff who are treating the Covid positive patients have to be quarantined for 14 days in hotels arranged for them by the district administration.

Source : The Tribune

Shimla : The number of positive coronavirus cases in the state has shot up to 27 with nine contacts of confirmed Tablighi Jamaat followers from Una district testing positive.

A total of 79 samples were tested today and out of which nine, all close contacts of the three positive cases from Una, also tested positive. These nine positive cases are in the 16 to 75 age group. Late last night, four members of the Tablighi Jamaat had tested positive in the Tissa area of Chamba and were shifted to Government Medical College at Nerchwok in Chamba.

Meanwhile, the government has notified ESI Hospital at Katha in Solan district as the Covid treatment centre for Solan and Sirmour districts. “Patients who test positive but are asymptomatic will be treated at this hospital at Katha, which was today notified as a secondary-level dedicated isolation facility for the confirmed cases,” said RD Dhiman, Additional Chief Secretary, Health.

The Covid testing facility is now also available at the IGMC, Shimla, the Tanda medical college and at the Central Research Institute (CRI), Kasauli.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today directed that an extensive campaign must be launched for contact mapping of Tablighi Jamaat infected persons so that it does not multiply further. He warned that the government would not hesitate in taking strict action against those who would conceal information about their travel history and those who give them shelter.

Thakur said under the Active Case Finding Campaign, information of 41 lakh people was collected by health workers during door-to-door campaign. He said 4,684 people have been kept under surveillance, out of which 2,188 have completed 28 days of surveillance period.

While two persons from Kangra have been discharged after recovery, four Delhi residents who were staying at a company guest house in Baddi had left for Delhi for treatment at a private hospital. One US- returned Tibetan is the lone coronavirus death in Himachal P radesh so far.

Corona Tracker

• Death 1
• Positive 27
• Samples tested 534
• Under surveillance 4,684
• 28-day quarantine completed 2,188

Covid-19 Case

DiSTRICT WISE COUNT –  District +ve deaths

• Kangra    4 – 1
• Solan      7 –
• Chamba 4 –
• Una       12 –
• Total      27 – 1

Source : The Truibune

Kullu/Bilaspur : A pall of gloom descended on Pueed village in the Kharahal valley of Kullu district as the body of martyred soldier Balkrishan (24) arrived at his native village Yesterday.

Balkrishan along with four other soldiers was martyred in a gun battle with terrorists in Kupwara district of north Kashmir on Sunday.

The body of the martyr was brought here in an Army helicopter from Pathankot to the SASE helipad at Manali in Kullu district yesterday afternoon.

From Manali, it was taken to Pueed village in an Army vehicle for cremation.

The third Covid 19 positive patient in Kangra, Sarla Devi, a resident of Dobh village in Shahpur sub division, also tested negative in the test conducted in Tanda medical college yesterday.

Sarla Devi had come back to Kangra from Dubai on March 18. After about 12 days of hospitalization she has now tested negative. District health authorities said that another test would be performed on her tomorrow before she is discharged from hospital.

The other Covid 19 positive patient from Kangra, Dinesh Kumar, a resident of Lunj village, was discharged from Tanda medical college March 30. The third Covid positive patient from Kangra, a Tibetan , had died in Tanda medical college on March 23.

Shimla : Some 15 people from Himachal Pradesh are believed to have attended a religious congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin and have been quarantined in the national capital, government sources said.

Sources in the Himachal government said the dispensation had received a list of 15 residents who attended the event have been quarantined by Delhi’s Disease Surveillance Officer.

They were forced to remain in Delhi because of the nationwide lockdown imposed in an effort to stop the deadly coronavirus from spreading.

At least eight people are believed to have belonged to Chamba district—including Saloonit and Churah tensils—and one from Kullu’s Bhuntar.

“So far we have information only about these 15 persons from Himachal who attended the religious congregation in Delhi,” RD Dhiman, the state’s additional chief secretary of health, said.

Shimla : To restrict movement during curfew relaxation, the district administration today started the home delivery of grocery items. It also released the list of 58 stores willing to provide service in all 34 wards under the Shimla Municipal Corporation.

“The home delivery facility has been started in the city from 9 am to 5 pm. Over 500 volunteers have come forward to help. The list of chemists will be uploaded on the Facebook page of the district administration tomorrow for home delivery of medicines,” said Deputy Commissioner Amit Kashyap.

He said 60 persons going to UP were stopped at the Shoghi barrier and urged to stay back. Arrangements had been made for their stay and food, he said, adding that the quarantine facility was available in the district at the Shoghi barrier, the Kuddu barrier at Rohru and at the Fadis bridge in Nerva sharing the border with Uttarakhand.

“If people did not stop moving, we will be compelled to quarantine them,” said the DC.

He said more quarantine centres would be made functional in the buildings of government college hostels, schools and hospitals.

Chief Divisional Retail Sales Manager-cum-State-level Coordinator, Oil Industry, Anil Kumar Singh said there were a total of 208 LPG distributors catering to around 19.50 lakh consumers and 494 retail outlets. There was no shortage of LPG in the state.

Meanwhile, 15 persons were arrested for violation of curfew in the state, taking the tally of the accused to 302. As many as 114 vehicles have been impounded and a fine of Rs 7,600 imposed on the violators.

240 tourists stranded in HP

At least 240 tourists, including 140 international, are stranded in the state due to the countrywide lockdown. As many as 130 are stranded in Kangra district, 97 in Kullu district, nine in Sirmaur, three in Shimla and one in Chamba. Arrangements have been made for their stay and food. Instructions have been issued to district tourism officials to ensure that they are comfortable. The tourists could not be allowed to go before April 14 due to the curfew, said Director, Tourism, Yunus.

The drone was used on The Ridge, The Mall, IGMC, Lakkar Bazaar, Sanjauli and Lower Bazaar areas to ensure that there was no gathering of people.

It was used to map activities and ensure that people did not gather in large numbers and maintained social distancing, said DGP SR Mardi. A control room would inform the nearest police station and patrolling vehicles about any activity spotted by the drone.

Congested areas like The Mall Road, The Ridge, temples and main bazaars were surveyed and no crowding was spotted. There was no panic and people were disciplined during the curfew relaxation and maintained distance, maybe because they had been assured of the regular supply of essential items.

Four cases of curfew violations were registered today, taking the total number of cases in the past four days to 189. As many as 269 persons were arrested, including 19 under preventive sections, and 91 vehicles plying without valid permission were impounded. For the first time, a fine of Rs 4,000 was imposed on the violators at Baddi.

Shimla : While the entire focus remains on maintaining supply of essential commodities in urban areas, the farmers and villages in rural areas are facing difficulty in getting medicines and farm inputs like pesticides, spray oils and other equipment.

The farmers rue that they are facing hardship in carrying out their essential farm activities which are supposed to be done at this time of the year owing to restrictions on their movement. As there are no government guidelines with regard to allowing farmers to purchase farm inputs, they are unable to use their vehicles to pick up the material from the shops located in Theog, Shimla, Chopal, Kotkhai Jubbal and Rohru.

Urging CM Jai Ram Thakur to prepare guidelines for them, the farmers say in the absence of clear guidelines, the police and other officials are not allowing their vehicular movement to fetch inputs for harvesting, transporting and selling and carrying their goods and essentials like pesticides, spray oils, repairs of machines to the nearest township.

The patients also continue to face shortage of essential and live saving drugs in Chopal, Nerwa and other places. “The administration should either direct local private chemists to get the life-saving drugs from Shimla, Theog and Solan or the administration should ensure the delivery of the medicines in these rural areas”, said Balbir Singh Jhagta, a prostrate patient. Many patients are facing shortage of medicines here as there is just one chemist here.

Farmers lamented how the administration expects them to get supplies from towns like Shimla and Theog from the villages located 60 km to 100 away on foot, said Surender Chauhan, a farmer.

Source : The Tribune

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today said senior citizens must be given priority as they cannot be made to stand in long queues to make purchases from shops during curfew relaxation.

Talking to The Tribune, Thakur said direction had been issued to all Deputy Commissioners and Superintendents of Police to ensure that all elderly persons and senior citizens are not made to wait in queues to get essential commodities. “I have told the DCs and SPs through video conferencing to tell the staff regulating public during curfew relaxation to give priority to senior citizens,” he said.

Testing facility at Mandi, Kasauli

We are pursuing the issue of creating testing facility at zonal hospital, Mandi and Central Research Institute, Kasauli, also so that the entire state is adequately covered though I feel testing facilities at the IGMC, Shimla, and Tanda are sufficient. — Jai Ram Thakur, Chief Minister

One could see several elderly persons standing in long queues for very long to get their turn to purchase essential commodities.

He said the officials are in constant touch with suppliers outside the state to ensure that there is no dearth of essential commodities like vegetables, milk, pulses and food grains. “There is apprehension that with supply chain from other states being affected, there could shortage but the officials are working on it,” he assured. He also said officials had been directed to ensure residents do not face any problem in getting medicines and LPG cylinders.

He said it would take a day or two for the system to get streamlined as initially there are bound to be teething problems. He urged people not to indulge in panic buying or hoarding as this would deprive many others of essential commodities. “Since regular supply will be maintained there is no need for stocking unnecessarily,” he said.

He said there is no cause for panic and the only thing to be kept in mind by every citizen is to stay home and ensure own safety and those of others. Thakur said those who had travel history from the high risk countries in particular and from abroad as well had been home quarantined as a precautionary measure. “Health teams and the district administration is in touch with them and tests of only those who are symptomatic are being done,” he elaborated.

In several parts Himachal Pradesh people queued-up to purchase essential items, indulged in panic-buying and flouted social-distancing norms on Thursday.

People queued up at ration and daily-need shops in Shimla as the curfew was relaxed for three hours and markets opened-up after three days.

Social-distancing norms were not followed as huge crowds emerged at the main markets, especially at Subzi Mandi and the Lower Bazaar.

People beelined to markets as they claimed there is uncertainty about how long the lockdown will continue for and engaged in panic-buying.

One way traffic was restored to the Subzi Mandi. Senior citizens, who did not have a caretaker, were harassed and forced to stand in long queues.