With India once again witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases in several states including Punjab, the threat of this deadly diease seems to be far from over. Now, the Punjab government has said those health care workers who do not get vaccinated will bear cost of their own treatment & will not be eligible for quarantine leave. Also Read: Maharashtra: Despite Warning And Surging Covid Cases; Huge Crowd Could Be Seen Flouting Norms In Nagpur
In an official tweet by the Punjab government account, the state said health care workers who do not get vaccinated to boost their immunity for Covid-19, despite being given repeated opportunities and in case they get the infection at a later stage, they will have to bear the cost of their treatment and they will not be allowed to avail quarantine/isolation leave.
The tweet quoted Punjab Health Minister Balbir Sidhu, who raised concerns about the uprising trend in the number of Covid-19 cases in Punjab. As per the official document uploaded on Twitter, the minister in a press briefing informed that 358 cases are reported on February 20 and around 3,000 positive cases are active in state while there were only 2,000 active cases (33% rise) three weeks back. The minister said that there is a dire need to get vaccinated for all health care workers to deal any unprecedented situation. He said that Punjab is among the six states where Covid cases are rising and the state should prepare to fight it like a second wave.
He said that the Punjab government has also prepared the road map to manage an incidence of the resurgence of cases in Punjab as well. He said that no death or any serious adverse effect has occurred in Punjab attributed to vaccine administration so far.
On 18th February, the Punjab government extended last date to administer first dose vaccination for healthcare workers. The Punjab Government has extended the last date to administer 1st dose vaccination for healthcare workers from 19th February to 25th February 2021. The deadline for first dose vaccination of frontline workers has also extended to 6th March, 2021.
Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu also instructed civil surgeons to conduct testing drive for teaching & non-teaching staff of all schools.
Sidhu said that School Education Department has assigned one teacher per school as a COVID monitor to enforce COVID precautions. He said that its duty of District & Block Task Forces to conduct the surprise checking of all educational institutes so as to ensure strict compliance of guidelines issued by Health Department. He said that the education department was directed to conduct campaigns and sessions in government and private schools to spread awareness on the proper use of masks and enforcement of COVID precautions.
So far India has reported 14,199 new cases, 9,695 discharges, and 83 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per Union Health Ministry data on Monday. The total number of cases have touched 1,10,05,850, discharges are at 1,06,99,410, death toll has touched 1,56,385 and total of active cases: 1,50,055
Till now, vaccinations have been given to around 1,11,16,854 people.