Chandigarh, April 6 - Haryana Chief Minister, Mr. Manohar Lal said that 447 doctors have been added to the medical workforce of the State to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. He said ten other hospitals have been made specialCovid hospital and testing being carried in two government and six private labs.

The Chief Minister said this while addressing the people through television.

He said that the State Government has been making all possible efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The Chief Minister said that the State Government has been making various efforts to deal with the economic slowdown due to COVID 19.

He said that we have also established Haryana Corona Relief Fund in the state, in which 10,000 people have contributed Rs 40 crore so far. The Chief Minister said that employees of the State have assured a contributed Rs 68 crores. He said all the inter-state and inter-district boundaries of Haryana have been sealed so that people can neither go out of the state nor come into the state. Similar arrangements have also been made in the districts. The Chief Minister said that with the help of 816 registered and unregistered organizations, arrangements have been made to send packaged ration to the needy.

Mr. Manohar Lal said that two months surcharge on domestic electricity bills for the month of March and April has been waived of for the convenience of domestic consumers. Similarly, the permanent fee of Rs 10,000 for industries with low tension and high tension connections have also been waived off. To provide relief to the contractual employees, the lockdown period will be considered as zero period and they will continue to work as per their old contract, he added.

The Chief Minister said that special attention is also being paid to school education and relief has been announced for the students and their parents who are studying in class I to XII. The State Government has decided not to conduct examinations for class I to VIII and all the students will be promoted to the next class in the new academic session, he added. He said that for the convenience of students studying in colleges, online learning management system has been started.

The Chief Minister said that in the present circumstances there is an atmosphere of fear and despair among the people. In order to overcome this fear and despair, the Chief Minister, himself, is interacting with the people at 5 pm every day in order to motivate them so that they face the situation with new determination. He said that as far as medical education and health services are concerned, a Crisis Management Committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Haryana Chief Secretary, Mrs. Keshni Anand Arora and Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Mr. Rajeev Arora has been appointed as Nodal Officer for COVID-19 (Corona) and together they are working to improve the system of medical education, health services, and hospitals.

The Chief Minister said that the medical and paramedical staffs who were retiring on March 31 have been given extension in service while an additional 447 doctors have been appointed and they have started working. He further said that an ex-gratia amount of Rs 50 lakh has been announced for the doctors and ex-gratia amount of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 50 lakh has been announced for such persons who are not covered in the Center Government’s scheme or insurance. Private hospitals are also giving their full support to deal with COVID-19 and 25 percent of the beds in these hospitals are kept for COVID-19 patients, he added.

He said that it has been decided to make 10 other hospitals as special COVID-19 hospitals. Sample testing work is being done in two government and six private testing labs. He further said that the State Government has also banned chewing gum, paan, gutkha, khaini, and paan masala from March 31 as there is a possibility of spitting of sputum leading to spread of the virus. Similarly, liquor shops have also been closed so that social distancing is maintained, he added.

He said that separate isolation wards have been set up in Government and Government aided medical colleges of the state while 7344-bed isolation wards have been set up in 14 blocks. Similarly, 3696 rooms and dormitories have been arranged for quarantining while 13396 people have been quarantined in the state and arrangements have been made to quarantine 26,000 people, he added.

The Chief Minister congratulated those working hard to fight the pandemic and said that doctors, nurses, and paramedics are Gods in white clothes as they are serving humanity and for their convenience, the State Government has made several arraements.

The Chief Minister said that during the lockdown, we are following every direction given by the Prime Minister and we will continue to do so.

He further said that the Food and Supplies Department has formed a supply chain and the Deputy Commissioners have been directed to make the supply chains smaller with and a primary unit of 200 to 250 families. For this supply chain, a team of 4 to 5 members including Government employees and members of social organizations, should be deployed to ensure supply of essential commodities and medicines at the lowest level.

The Chief Minister said that the situation in Haryana is much better than other states due to the arrangements being made in the State for its prevention. Thanking the CMO, various departments, and institutions for their support for setting up this system, the Chief Minister said that through their efforts this has become a mass campaign. He said that we still have to be vigilant as the threat is not over yet.

The Chief Minister congratulated the people of the State for paying heed to the Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi’s appeal by lighting lamps and candles after turning off the lights of their houses for 9 minutes at 9 o'clock last night. He also congratulated all the party workers and people of the State on the occasion of 41st Foundation Day of the Bharatiya Janata Party.