Chandigarh, November 24: Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Manohar Lal today said that with a view to contain the recent surge in Covid-19 cases especially in the six districts adjoining NCR namely Gurugram, Rewari, Faridabad, Rohtak, Sonipat and Hisar, Haryana Government has decided to limit the number of persons allowed at social gatherings like marriages, political or religious functions etc to maximum 50 for such events held indoor and 100 for outdoor. However, in the remaining districts of the State, the gathering has been limited to 100 persons for indoor functions and 200 persons for the outdoor. These orders will be effective from November 26, 2020.

Mr Manohar Lal informed this during the Video Conference of Chief Ministers of eight States on Covid-19 situation presided over by the Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi, here today. Health and Home Minister, Mr Anil Vij was also present on this occasion.

The other seven States included Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Kerala, Gujarat and Delhi.

Mr Manohar Lal said that the situation of COVID-19 in Haryana remained satisfactory in the first and second phase. However, in the third wave of COVID-19, spurt in number of cases have been registered in the past few days especially in the districts adjoining the NCR. He said that keeping in view the thick movement of people in the NCR; the State Government has ramped up testing in NCR areas so that people found positive could be isolated to keep a check on the further spread of infection.

While referring to various steps being taken by the State Government to effectively combat the COVID-19 situation, he said that testing in Haryana has reached 1.24 lakh per million which is much more than the national average of 80,000 per million. He said that at present, 32,000 tests per day are being conducted in the State which would be further increased in the coming days. Apart from this, special emphasis is being given on the contact tracing of positive COVID-19 cases. He said that at present, the number of positive cases in the State is 6.86 per cent and fatal rate is only 1 per cent. Efforts are being made to further reduce the fatal rate to below one per cent, he added.

The Chief Minister said that people in the State are being encouraged to wear masks and maintain social distancing. He said that in the same series, one crore masks would soon be distributed in the State. The Department of Police and Urban Local Bodies have been directed to strictly enforce the wearing of masks and issue challan to the offenders. A fine of Rs 500 will be imposed on those who are found without masks, he added.

He said that the State Government is fully geared up to deal with any eventuality in wake of the COVID-19 situation and has further strengthened its hospital infrastructure. An arrangement of 57,000 beds has been made in different hospitals of the State which is sufficient keeping in view the number of cases. Also, sufficient number of oxygen cylinders, ventilators, ICU beds etc is also available in the State. He said that the State Government has further strengthened the home isolation care of COVID-19 patients so that they could be provided treatment facilities at their homes.

Later, the Prime Minister also held a video conference with the Chief Ministers of all States and Union Territories on COVID-19 vaccination programme in India and also sought their suggestions on priority beneficiaries and preparedness of the health system.

Among those present on this occasion included Chief Secretary, Mr Vijai Vardhan, Chief Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr D.S. Dhesi, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister, Mr V. Umashankar, Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue and Disaster Management Department, Mr Sanjeev Kaushal, Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Education and Research Mr Alok Nigam, Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Mr Rajeev Arora, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Mr T.V.S.N Prasad, Director, Medical Education and Research, Mrs Amneet P. Kumar, Advisor in CMO Mr Yogender Chaudhry, Deputy Principal Secretary to Chief Minister namely Mr Amit Kumar Agarwal and Mrs Ashima Brar, Director, Urban Local Bodies Mr Ashok Meena, DGP Mr Manoj Yadava and other senior officers of the State Government.