The Punjab government on Friday expanded the relief operations amid the curfew imposed to check the spread of COVID-19 by authorising sarpanchs to use panchayat funds to provide emergency relief to the poor.
The sarpanchs have been authorised to spend Rs 5,000 per day, subject to a maximum of Rs 50,000, out of their panchayat funds.
They have also been given powers to issue passes/letters for medical emergencies in their respective villages from 7 pm to 6 am every day, to allow people to visit hospitals for treatment.
The initiatives were part of the government exercise to reach out to the maximum number of people across the states, down to every village, in order to minimise the inconvenience caused to them as a result of the curfew/lockdown imposed due to coronavirus, an official statement said here.
Meanwhile, as part of the government's efforts to track down each of the 90,000 people who had returned from abroad and visited Punjab villages after February 15, Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has directed the Rural Development Department to compile the information relating to all such persons.
He appealed to all the sarpanchs to provide this information to the department within the next two days, the statement said.
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Fearing a surge in coronavirus cases after the arrival of a large number of NRIs from abroad, the Punjab government on Tuesday had sought an assistance of Rs 150 crore from the Centre to combat the outbreak of the infection.
Singh, who is personally monitoring the situation in the state, has also ordered intensification of testing for COVID-19, and in the last two days alone, as many as 233 samples have been tested, of which seven reported positive.
With this, the total number of samples tested so far has gone up to 789, of which 38 have tested positive, 480 are negative and results of 271 tests are still awaited, the statement said.
Till date, there has been one death out of 38 positive cases and one case is cured. All the confirmed cases are doing well with no complications so far, the statement added.
Singh is also closely monitoring the position with regard to the supply of logistics, to ensure that frontline staff, including doctors, paramedics, police personnel, etc. have adequate supplies of N-95 masks, triple layer masks, sanitisers and gloves, it said.
The Department of Health and Family Welfare had identified 20 isolation facilities for isolation and treatment of COVID-19 positive persons.
The chief minister has directed the department to further scale up the bed strength to 5,000 by adding more facilities, according to the statement.
The Punjab chief minister lauded the work being done by the medical and paramedical staff of the Health Department, and also appreciated the cooperation and assistance offered by the private sector, as many private health facilities had volunteered ICU beds and ventilators.
Mapping of such facilities has been done by the Department of Health and Family Welfare. A total of 889 ICU beds and 387 ventilators are available in government and private facilities for care of critical patients, if the need arises, the statement said.
On Friday, Singh held video chats with some police personnel and doctors on duty in the battle against coronavirus in the state.
He inquired about the situation on the ground, and advised them to reach out to the maximum number of people, urging the police personnel to remain polite and humane in their dealings at all time, the statement said.
The chief minister has assured the people that the state is fully geared to contain the spread of COVID-19.
According to the statement, the state's Labour Department on Friday transferred Rs 86 crore in the saving bank accounts of 2,86,353 registered construction workers through DBT as part of the government's efforts to provide succour to poor and weaker sections who have been adversely impacted by the current situation caused by COVID-19.
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