Family members of COVID patients should be subjected to RT-PCR examination; Panchayat Director issues new guidelines

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Panchayat Director has directed that the family members of COVID patients should be subjected to strict RT-PCR examination. COVID patients living in crowded places should be admitted to the hospital or CFLTC. The Panchayat Director also warned that stern action would be taken against the panchayat secretaries who did not immediately reorganize the
panchayat and ward level committees.

The Panchayat Director has issued new guidelines in the wake of the COVID outbreak. Panchayat and ward level committees are responsible for enforcing regulations and procedures. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the Panchayat Secretaries to reorganize these committees immediately. If the number of Kovid victims in an area is high, cantonment and micro-containment measures should be taken. Geomapping should be done in areas where the disease is highly contagious.

It must be ensured that only a permissible number of people attend weddings, funerals, and other gatherings. Break the chain protocol must be ensured in malls, movie theaters, auditoriums, and markets. Priority should be given to ensuring the protection and safety of the elderly, people with lifestyle diseases, people with disabilities, people in palliative care, people living in coastal areas, slum dwellers, care home inmates, employment workers, Kudumbasree workers, and guest workers. It must be ensured that these people have undergone the COVID test.

Panchayat and ward level committees should take steps to subject guest workers to the RT-PCR test. If the disease is confirmed in labour camps, they must be divided into clusters and strict monitoring and awareness should be done. Panchayats should collect the test positivity rate and upload it on the Covid Jagratha portal. The new guidelines also stated that the panchayat secretaries should ensure the authenticity of the uploaded data.