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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 19

The UT administration has partially closed OPDs in all government hospitals with immediate effect.

Gynae, paediatrics, emergency, trauma and medicine OPDs are open and the rest are closed.

The PGI has restricted the timing of registration for OPD patients.

Addressing a press conference after the tricity’s first confirmed Covid 19 case, UT Adviser Manoj Kumar Parida here on Thursday said, “All scheduled surgeries have been postponed except gynae, paedatrics and trauma.”

On confirmed case

Four immediate contacts have been traced of the confirmed patient. These are her father, mother, driver and maid. The mother has been sent to isolation ward and her sample has been sent for testing. Others are under surveillance.

Contact tracing has been initiated. All those who came in her contact are being traced.

There is no lockdown as of now.

The coronavirus positive case is stable now.

 Quarantine facility

Park View, Panchayat Bhawan, Infosys serai and the PGI have been declared as quarantine facilities in case the number rises.

On teachers

Teachers are to be given training for managing coronavirus patients. A decision on their attending schools will be taken later on Thursday.

On transport

No banning of inter-state CTU buses as of now.

Instructions given for keeping adequate distancing between passengers. Sanitisation of buses going on.

On markets

Sanitisation of all markets has been started.  No markets to be closed as of now. Apni mandis will continue to operate.  There will be no retail selling in grain market, Sector 26.

On sanitisers and masks

If required, pricing of sanitisers and masks will be fixed.  Around 50 raids have been conducted so far.

Sports complex shut

All sports complexes, private and public, have been shut.

Tribune Web Desk

Chandigarh, March 19

In the view of the coronavirus threat, the challaning branch of Chandigarh Traffic Police has suspended its operations of challaning motor vehicles for various violations.

People who have to pay fine against challans issued to them are being given an extended period of at least two months from the date of challan, the traffic police said in a release.

It will, however, continue to entertain cases of release of impounded vehicles.

Facility for online payment of postal challan will be provided soon, it added.

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 18

Not a single suspected coronavirus patient is either missing or absconding in Punjab, Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu clarified on Wednesday. He categorically rejected media reports to the contrary as “irresponsible and incorrect”.

The 167 missing persons referred to by Ludhiana civil surgeon were not Covid suspected cases but were merely people with foreign travel history who could not be traced due to incomplete contact details shared by the Central Government, said Sidhu, amid reports suggesting that they were suspected cases who had absconded or gone missing.

All these persons had already been screened at the airports in Delhi, said the minister, adding that since the outbreak, the Centre had been sharing reports of passengers with international travel with all states, including Punjab. “While those found symptomatic are admitted in hospital and kept in isolation, as per protocol, the lists of asymptomatic passengers are shared with the state concerned,” he said, adding that as a matter of precaution, the Punjab Government contacted these passengers to re-verify their history and medical condition.

In this case, the contact details of 335 passengers shared by the Centre were incomplete and lists of these passengers were shared with the district administration and the Centre was also duly informed, Sidhu disclosed.

Kolkata, March 18

A BJP activist has been arrested for organising a cow urine consumption event here, claiming that it will protect people from coronavirus or cure those already infected, leading to a civic volunteer falling ill after drinking it, police said on Wednesday.

He was arrested late Tuesday night following a complaint filed by the victim with the police, they said.

According to police officials, 40-year-old Narayan Chatterjee, a local party worker of Jorasakho area in North Kolkata, had on Monday organised a cow-worship programme at a cowshed and distributed cow urine.

He vouched for its “miraculous” properties while offering gaumutra to others.

A civic volunteer complained against him after he fell sick after consuming the same.

“How can just police arrest him without any reason. This is completely undemocratic,” state BJP General Secretary Sayantan Basu said. West Bengal BJP chief Dilip Ghosh has said there is no harm in drinking cow urine. — PTI

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Tribune Web Desk
Chandigarh, March 18

Amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the Kerala Police have shared a 1:04-second clip highlighting the importance of washing hands.

The police department has come up with a hand-washing themed dancing showing how people should wash their hands.

The clip has now gone viral on social media.

The video features six policemen wearing face masks while showing ways to wash hands and getting rid of the germs.

Promoting ‘Break the chain’ campaign, the video ends with the cops giving the views a thumbs-up after the dance.

Several international health organisations such as the World Health Organisation and UNICEF have advised people to regularly wash their hands to prevent contracting the disease.

New Delhi, March 19

The railways on Thursday cancelled 84 trains, which will not operate between March 20 and March 31, in view of low occupancy and the novel coronavirus pandemic, officials said.

With this, the total number of cancelled trains has climbed to 155.

Railway officials said the trains were identified on Wednesday night and the decision would be effective from March 20 until March 31.

“All passengers having tickets in these 155 trains are being informed about it individually. No cancellation fee will be taken for these trains. Passengers will get 100 per cent refund,” an official said.

The national transporter has also issued a set of guidelines to zonal headquarters for its catering staff, stating no employee having fever, cough, runny nose or difficulty in breathing “should be deployed in the business of food handling on the Indian Railways”.

The novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 169 on Thursday after 18 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country, according to the Health Ministry.

The cases include 25 foreign nationals — 17 from Italy, three from the Philippines, two from the UK, one each belonging to Canada, Indonesia and Singapore.

The figure also includes three deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra so far. PTI

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 19

The Punjab Government on Thursday ordered postponement of all school examinations and announced that staff of all schools will be relieved till March 31 amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) postponed all board examinations scheduled between March 20 and 31st—amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The board in its official communication stated that practical board exams—for Class 8 and written examination for Class 5, 1O and plus 2—have been postponed until March 31.

New dates for the examinations would be notified later on the website, said the board.

School Education Minister Vijay Inder Singla said to avert the threat of virus contamination, Punjab Government has decided to restrict the activities of all government, semi-government and private schools in the state.

“Apart from postponing the examinations, the school staff has also been relieved with immediate effect,” he added.

The Cabinet minister said to curb the contamination of Covid-19, the state government has been working tirelessly as Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has also been personally reviewing the situation.

He added that the education department has also decided to voluntarily offer the school buildings for isolation wards as per the requirement in case of any critical situation.

He said once the health department requisites the building, it would be immediately evacuated.

Singla said apart from restricting the movement in the schools, an intensive awareness drive has also been launched in the state today onwards.

He added that the teams led by health department staff and other officials were visiting each and every household in villages and cities to make the residents aware of the coronavirus.

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Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 19

The Punjab government on Thursday decided to discontinue public transport in the state as a preventive step against novel coronavirus.

Buses, auto-rickshaws and tempos will not be allowed to ply in the state from the midnight intervening Friday and Saturday.

Also read: Banga man, who had died of heart attack, tests positive for coronavirus

The decision was made after a group of ministers met on Thursday to review the state’s preparedness amid the pandemic. It decided to limit public gathering to 20 people.

Also read: Newly-wed couple, suspected of coronavirus, quarantined at Ropar hospital

Punjab has reported two coronavirus cases. One person, who had a travel history to Germany and Italy, died due to the disease on Wednesday. The state’s capital, Chandigarh, also reported its first positive case on Wednesday evening.