Chandigarh, Mar 1 (PTI) Haryana Chief Minister M L Khattar directed officers on Monday to provide at least five free masks and also start the drive of imposing a fine on those who are found without masks.
"Though vaccination for COVID-19 has been rolled out, but still we should religiously follow all the guidelines like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing to stay safe and to ensure containment of virus spread," Khattar said as he appealed to the people to wear masks whenever they venture out.
The fine to be imposed for not wearing a mask will be Rs 500.
The chief minister gave these directions while presiding over a review meeting held with administrative secretaries in Chandigarh regarding COVID-19, according to a statement.
Khattar directed officers to ramp up COVID-19 management preparations coupled with aggressive surveillance, stringent containment, swift contact tracing, focused clinical management along with proactive information education and communication activities.
"Radio jingles, publicity campaigns regarding COVID-19 guidelines like wearing masks, sanitising hands and social distancing should be followed meticulously," he said.
Physical checking of the industries and enforcement of COVID precautions and guidelines at public places like malls, eating joints, bus stands, schools and colleges should also be done regularly, Khattar said.
"Re-enforcement of COVID guidelines through panchayati raj institutions (PRIs), local bodies and police department should be done vigorously along with the acceleration of the vaccination drive," he said.
During the meeting, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Rajeev Arora apprised the chief minister that 15,000-18,000 daily COVID tests were being conducted in Haryana.
The test positivity rate on a weekly basis is less than one per cent, he said, adding that there were 1,205 active COVID cases at present.
Arora said more than 1.5 lakh healthcare workers have been given the first dose and more than 71,000 had been given the second dose so far.
Total 2.21 lakh doses (both 1st and 2nd doses) have been given to the healthcare workers.
Against an approximately 1.30 lakh registered frontline workers, 71,000 had been given the first dose. A total of 2.2 lakh healthcare workers and frontline workers have been vaccinated for the first dose.
