Chandigarh (Punjab) [India], May 16 (ANI): To tackle the worrying spread of COVID in the rural areas of Punjab, Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Sunday announced a unique "COVID Fateh programme" as part of the Corona Mukt Pind Abhiyaan.
The Health and Rural Development Departments have been given a task to spearhead the campaign with large-scale mobilisation of the community in the villages.
"The entire staff should be utilised to spread awareness among the villagers on the dangers of COVID", the Chief Minister said, adding that the Health and Wellness Clinics should become the fulcrum, and Community Health Officers, panchayats, school teachers, Anganwadi and ASHA workers, village police officers, youth volunteers, etc. must be mobilised on a large scale to steer the programme.

He has asked the Guardians of Governance and the Police force to work closely to make this programme a success and that the idea is to not just spread awareness and dispel any myths but also ensure that there is adequate sampling, vaccination, etc. carried out in the rural areas.

Terming the casual attitude of the people towards symptoms like cold and cough, which they do not report timely, as the biggest issue, he called for early identification of the infected people to ensure early treatment.

He said, "Symptomatic persons should be given basic medicines like paracetamol, cough syrup, and Vitamin C at their doorsteps, and they should be encouraged to get tested and supported while in home isolation if they test positive".

The health department has been directed to provide additional Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) kits exclusively for the purpose of testing in rural areas. He also urged the department to consider opening COVID Care Centers (L1) where ever required, with the support of NGOs. (ANI)