New Delhi (NVI): In the wake of attacks on doctors and other medical staff in some parts of the country, the Union Home Ministry today asked States and Union Territories to provide security to them in hospitals and quarantine facilities, as per the need.
The Union Home Ministry sent a letter to the States and UTs in this regard, Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary in the Ministry, said at a media briefing here.
The advisory comes in the wake of harassment and attacks inflicted upon doctors and paramedics in some parts of the country.
Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary in the Health Ministry, said the government is making all efforts to see that coronavirus is contained.
He said currently there are more than 1 lakh isolation beds are in the country.
“Dedicated coronavirus hospitals have been brought up, so that the infection does not spread to other patients and proper treatment is provided to the infected people. Till now, 586 such hospitals have been established in close coordination by the central and state governments,” Aggarwal said.
The response of Government of India has been pre-emptive, proactive and to the extent of being over-prepared, he said.
“Through our graded approach, we have aligned our response with evolving situation in the country,” the official said.
So far, a total of 7,447 infections have been recorded, with a total of 239 deaths in the country. In addition to this, 642 people have been cured and have recovered, according to Health Ministry data.
A representative of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said, “A total of 1,71,718 tests for COVID-19 have been conducted in the country. Out of this, 16,564 tests were conducted yesterday. In addition, 146 labs are currently there in ICMR network, while 67 labs are there in the private sector.”
