Himachal to set up health outpost in Mcleod Ganj as Coronavirus hits India
DHARAMSALA, 1 Feb: The Himachal Pradesh Government has decided to set up a special health outpost at McLeodganj along with isolation wards at two prominent hospitals of the state as India reported its first case of novel coronavirus on Thursday in Kerala, TOI reported earlier today.
The Himachal Pradesh chief secretary has directed the state health department to set up the health outpost at McLeodganj, the exile residence of His Holiness the Dalai Lama frequented by a large number of devotees from all over the world to meet the Dalai Lama to screen people as well as to provide information on visitors, the report added.
Besides, the state government has also directed the health department to set up isolation wards at the Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College Tanda at Kangra and the Indira Gandhi Medical College & Hospital in Shimla.
The report noted that the said outpost will be ready by Saturday citing the state’s Health secretary R D Dhiman.
Meanwhile, the office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama has announced that it won’t take any requests for meetings and audiences with the Tibetan spiritual leader at his residence as a precautionary measure on Thursday, noted a report on CTA’s official webpage tibet.net.
Media reports also stated that audiences with the Tibetan Nobel Laureate for mainland Chinese have been stopped since Monday amidst the global outbreak of the deadly naval coronavirus.
Hours after India confirmed its first positive case of novel coronavirus, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.
Punjab, a state neighbouring Himachal has screened a total of 1,804 passengers for novel coronavirus at Amritsar and Mohali airports as well as border check posts of Atari and Dera Baba Nanak, India Today reported citing Punjab’s Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu.
Punjab accounts nearly 60% of the local tourists visiting the picturesque town that has become one of the top destinations of holiday gateway in India.
So far, nearly 11,700 cases of deadly novel corona virus has been reported from 22 countries and territories globally.
The number of deaths from a coronavirus epidemic in China has risen by 46 to 259, the country’s health authority said on Saturday.
