The Sikkim government hasreviewed the preparedness of the health and other departments and the action plan to deal with any situation of coronavirus infection in the wake of reports of the disease in different parts of the country, an official said.During a meeting held on Friday, Chief Secretary S C Gupta asked the state police department to strengthen checkposts with adequate manpower for an expeditious screening of visitors in the border area.Gupta asked the health and education department officials to ensure compulsory screening of foreign students who are studying in Sikkim.He directed the tourism department to conduct meetings with stakeholders including travel agents and hoteliers to solicit their cooperation to prevent infection of the disease.He also asked the department to issue travel advisory asking people in the state to not visit the five countries - Iran, Italy, Japan, China and South Korea which are severely affected by coronavirus infection.The meeting was attended by Director General of Police (DGP) A Sudhakar Rao and principal secretaries of health and rural development departments and other senior officials.The chief secretary directed the authorities in all districts to prevent mass gathering during the upcoming Holi festival and put a ban on the use of chemical gulal by the revellers as a preventive measure.The state government has decided to suspend issuing Inner Line Permit (ILP) to foreign nationals following coronavirus scare as a precautionary measure and stopped giving permits for travel to Nathula, the official said.He said Sino-Indian border trade at Nathula will remain suspended till further order.The chief secretary was told by the information and public relation secretary that the community radio station was being used to spread public awareness to prevent outbreak of the disease.Though no positive coronavirus case has been detected in Sikkim, the state government has made elaborate arrangements to deal with any situation, the official said.So far, India has 31 confirmed cases of the infection while nearly 29,000 people have been put under surveillance.
