Braving Covid surge, tourists choke Manali after snowfall

Shimla: On the day when a massive rush of tourists choked two leading hill destinations of Shimla and Manali, immediately after snowfall on Saturday, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur passed strict orders to keep an eye on the tourists surge, enforce Covid appropriate behavior and take action against the defaulters.

He also asked the tourists to strictly follow the SOP issued by the state government if they want unrestricted mobility to the state to enjoy the snowfall.

More than 100 tourists stranded in Lahaul-Spiti after heavy snowfall and disruption of the roads were rescued by the police even as Manali witnessed an unprecedented rush of the tourists, resulting in long traffic jams.

Shimla was no exception as thousands of tourists arrived in the town following snowfall resulting in overcrowding and choking of the national highway. The CM later in the day convened a meeting with all Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police and Chief Medical Officers via video conference to review the Covid situation threatening to create a new crisis.

Thakur directed the officers to ensure enhanced Covid testing, effective monitoring of clusters and strict perimeter to check the spread of the third wave of the pandemic.

"Preparedness regarding availability of beds, oxygen PPE kits and drugs must be reviewed and all restrictions imposed by the government must be enforced strictly," he ordered, hinting at a sharp surge in the number of cases in the next few days and weeks.

He said that the mechanism of home isolation must be made more effective and revised home isolation guidelines must be implemented.

Pulse oximeters and thermometers must be provided to ASHA workers and other health workers so that the patients under home isolations must be monitored regularly.The patients must be immediately moved to health institutions if the conditions worsen.

He also directed the officers to ensure adequate availability of oxygen cylinders and other necessary equipment so that in case of any emergent situation, panic could be avoided.

Meanwhile, all educational institutions barring medical colleges and nursing institutes closed till janaury 26.