Our Correspondent
Muzaffarabad
Azad Kashmir government has in principle decided to impose lockdown in the region again after a spike in novel coronavirus cases in the region. A meeting chaired by Prime Minister Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Raja Farooq Haider, expressed concern over the soaring number of Covid-19 infections in the region.
The ratio of coronavirus cases has reached to 8.3 percent, prime minister AJK said. ‘The government has in principle decided to impose lockdown in the region,’ the prime minister said. ‘We have to take strict measures before the situation goes out of the control,’ AJK PM said. The meeting also decided strict enforcement of the condition of wearing masks outside homes and in offices. The session also decided to impose fine on those who will violate the condition of wearing masks.
The prime minister directed the officials to decide details of the standard operating procedures (SOPs) about markets, offices and educational institutions. For customer protection, the government has asked to ensure thermal scanning of customers, using menus that are disposable or sanitized between each use, cleaning and disinfecting touched surfaces hourly, maintaining social distance of six feet in any entryway, hallway, or waiting area, ensuring dining groups are seated at least six feet apart and remove or block extra seating, utilizing contactless payment systems, or provide hand-washing or hand gel for employees handling payment, maximizing pick-up or delivery services and encouraging the use of face mask when not eating, he added.
Similarly, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 through employee, health monitoring is critical besides steps including training of workers on symptoms of COVID-19 illness and on required hand hygiene, ensuring thermal scanning of employees, encouraging workers to stay home if they are sick, ensuring hand-washing sinks are stocked with soap and paper towels and hand sanitizers are available, ensuring use of face coverings by employees and staggering work schedules as much as possible to reduce employee contact, he said.
