#SwasthyaMantra Telethon: Deputy Chief Minister Of Haryana Dushyant Chautala Briefs About State’s Fight Against COVID-19 Pandemic

New Delhi: Deputy Chief Minister of Haryana, Dushyant Chautala lent his support to the NDTV-Dettol Banega Swasth India’s #SwasthyaMantra telethon on October 2 where he shared the steps being taken by the Haryana government in winning the fight against COVID-19. According to the official data, on September 5, for the first time, Haryana recorded the biggest one day spike of COVID-19 cases as it reported over 2,000 fresh cases. The spike in cases lasted for two weeks and since September 26, the state has again started to report less than 2,000 fresh cases daily.

Also Read: Haryana Has One Of The Lowest COVID-19 Death Rates In The Country But The Recent Spike In Numbers Can Be A Cause For Concern

Talking about the change in the COVID-19 graph and the plan to tackle the spike in COVID-19 cases, Mr Chautala said,

The average increase in cases has dropped from 2600-2800 COVID-19 cases daily to now 1,600-1,800 cases. In the coming days, we plan to bring down the daily surge to less than 1,000 cases.

Mr Chautala also lauded the continuous increment in the COVID-19 recovery rate of the state. The recovery rate has improved from 88.83 per cent on October 2 to 90.86 per cent as of October 7. The current recovery rate is higher than the national average of 85.25 per cent.

According to Mr Chautala, his home state has performed really well in the fight against COVID-19 considering Haryana is Delhi’s neighbour and Delhi has reported more than double the cases recorded by Haryana. Talking about Haryana’s success, the state’s healthcare infrastructure and preparedness to tackle COVID-19 cases, Mr Chautala said,

We are adjacent to Delhi and nine of our districts that fall in the NCR region have seen a lot of movement to and from Delhi. We developed COVID dedicated hospitals. Now, we are in the process of converting three medical colleges into dedicated COVID hospitals wherein each bed will have ventilator and oxygen facilities. We aim to have a dedicated COVID-19 testing facility in all 22 districts in the state so that in the coming months of winter, the people can be safeguarded from the Novel Coronavirus and other kinds of diseases. It’s our priority to protect the citizens.

Also Read: #SwasthyaMantra Telethon: Discussing The Three Pillars Of The Campaign – Health, Hygiene And Environment And Sanitation

Currently, farmers’ protests are underway in Haryana and amidst this social distancing seems to be missing. At #SwasthyaMantra telethon, actor and Campaign Ambassador raised this issue and asked about the state’s government plan to handle the situation to which Mr Chautala said,

In April, we faced a similar problem at the time of procurement of wheat but we overcame it. We used to have 477 centres for the procurement of wheat but this time we divided them into 1900 centers. We procured 75 lakh metric tonnes of wheat from 8.5 lakh farmers and Haryana is the only state where no farmer tested positive for COVID-19 during this process.

Mr Chautala further informed that currently the procurement of Paddy, Bajra (Millet), Cotton and Corn is underway and similar to last year, different centres have been established for each kind of crop. The state has also digitalised the procurement process which in a way avoids gathering of a crowd. Explaining the same, Mr Chautala said,

Every farmer in the state updates us about his/her land and harvest through a digital medium. The farmer chooses a week he/she wants to sell his/her harvest and the government calls him/her at a particular time. This is the reason; so far, all our farmers and employees involved in the procurement process have been safe from COVID-19. It is the season of paddy procurement and we plan to keep everyone safe from COVID-19.

Also Read: Actor Amitabh Bachchan And AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria Discuss Coronavirus Vaccine At #SwasthyaMantra Telethon

On Tuesday (October 6), Mr Chautala tested positive for COVID-19. In a short video posted on Twitter, Mr Chautala said he had self-isolated himself but was in good health and asymptomatic.

While talking about the measures being taken to protect citizens of Haryana from COVID-19, Mr Chautala also spoke about the cleanliness and sanitation measures. He informed that on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, Haryana has bagged the first position for having the maximum number of open defecation free (ODF) plus villages. On October 2, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar also launched Swachhta Pakhwada (Cleanliness fortnight) from Panchkula. As part of the celebrations, cleanliness activities will be carried out in both rural and urban areas of the state.

Health, hygiene, sanitation and the environment go hand in hand and that’s what the Season 7 of Banega Swachh India campaign focusses on. The Haryana state government is also trying to build a synergy between health and hygiene and fight COVID-19.

Also Read: #SwasthyaMantra Telethon: Experts Discuss The Relationship Between Health And Environment

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.  

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