Uttarakhand government implements measures as per MHA guidelines to battle COVID-19 crisis

Uttarakhand state cabinet held a meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures that needed to be taken during the extended lockdown announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The state government has decided to implement a slew of measures that the Ministry of Home Affairs issued in its guidelines in order to contain the spread of the pandemic.

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Some of the measures decided by the Uttarakhand government are as follows:

• Wearing of masks will be mandatory in public places and offices
• Permission of the District Magistrate will be necessary for any wedding ceremony or funeral
• Anyone who spits in a public place will have to pay a penalty
• Sale of liquor, gutka, tobacco etc, has been banned completely
• Proper arrangement of temperature screening and sanitiser should also be provided at the workplace
• There should be a gap of at least an hour during a shift change at the workplace and social distancing will be taken care of during the staff meal
• Personnel above 65 years of age and parents whose children are below five years of age will be encouraged to work from home
• All government and non-government personnel and the common people should be motivated to use the "Arogya Setu" app

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The directives of the state government are more or less similar to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs after PM Modi's announcement of lockdown extension. The state government has made arrangements to open industries in rural areas and in Industrial Estates. However, District Magistrates will issue permission to run the industry looking at the condition of COVID-19. Uttarakhand has recorded a total of 37 COVID-19 positive cases which is substantially less than states such as Maharashtra, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, where cases are in thousands.

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Despite the culmination of 21 day period of nationwide lockdown, the nation continued to witness an alarming swell in the number of COVID-19 positive cases across the country. Even as the nation is in its 24th day of the lockdown, the total number of cases stands at 13,386 as on April 17, of which 437 have died due to the virus. While 11,201 are still active cases, 1748 patients have been cured and discharged, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

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(with inputs from ANI)