Himachal CM: Weddings, winter behind surge in Covid

Tribune News Service
Shimla, November 24

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur today blamed the surge in Covid cases and deaths, especially in the rural areas, to the winter and weddings.

“As the temperatures have dropped and it’s quite cold now, most weddings and other social gatherings are happening indoors. Even if there is one infected individual in a large gathering in an enclosed space, there are chances of others contracting the contagion,” said the Chief Minister.

“And that’s the reason why we have imposed night curfew. It will discourage large indoor gatherings,” he said, adding that people need to give up lax attitude and act responsibly.

The CM also launched the ‘Him Suraksha Abhiyan’ to sensitise people regarding the pandemic and collect information regarding the symptoms of diseases such as TB, leprosy, sugar, blood pressure etc. by a door-to-door campaign. This campaign will start from November 25 and continue till December 27.

Thakur said 8,000 teams comprising Health, Ayurveda, Women and Child Development and Panchayati Raj Departments, district administration and NGOs would be involved in the campaign. He urged people to provide wholehearted support to health workers by providing them accurate information about their diseases and health parameters.

The Chief Minister said not only suspected Covid patients would be detected through this campaign, but also those suffering from other ailments. He said this would help in providing them better health services. Thakur said there was no dearth of essential medicines and equipment in the state.