Be alert and awake, CS’ advice to Collectors

In an attempt to beef up surveillance around coronavirus (Covid-19) in the State, Chief Secretary K Shanmugam, on Thursday, wrote to all the district collectors to undertake preventive measures on a war footing.

“A meeting with all the doctors and other stakeholders – in both government as well as private hospitals in the district – should be conducted immediately and they should be thoroughly oriented on containment plan for the coronavirus disease, which includes case definitions, laboratory protocols, case transport guidelines, ambulance infection protocols and travel advisories,” the circular issued by the Chief Secretary said.

Covid-19 is on the rise in the country as close to 30 people are now infected with the disease. 

Though no case of Covid-19 has been reported so far in the state, the government is taking all possible preventive measures to stop any outbreak of the virus.  The Chief Secretary said that isolation facilities should be arranged at all the district headquarters hospitals, medical college hospitals and major private hospitals in the State.

“Hands of all the patients, attenders and hospital staff entering into any health facility should be sanitised with hand sanitisers, which carries at least 70 percentage alcohol,” said Shanmugam, who also said that hand sanitisers should be made widely available in all the government and private hospitals, hotels, shopping malls, cinema theatres, marriage halls, schools, colleges and other places.

Shanmugam further directed the district collectors to hold awareness programmes on the spread of the deadly disease. “Awareness generation programmes on coronavirus infection preventive measures, with focus on respiratory hygiene, and surface cleaning with one percentage hypochlorite solution or five percentage Lysol where hands frequently come into contact, should be conducted in all schools, colleges, government and private establishments,” the directive said.

Adequate awareness should be created at the village level with focus on preventive measures, hygiene/cleansing practices and home quarantine guidelines and the district collectors are requested to personally involve themselves in organising the preventive and control measures and to review the activities on a daily basis, the circular further said.