U'khand Chief Secy shares plans to contain COVID-19, boost rural economy

Special attention would be given to contact tracing and patient care management, said Uttarakhand Chief Secretary Utpal Kumar Singh on Saturday, claming that no traces of community transmission has been found for COVID-19 in the state.

All positive cases either have a travel history or have come in contact with an infected person, he claimed.

During the media interaction, he extensively spoke about the government's plans to contain the spread of the virus and strengthen the rural economy.

"We are trying to focus on increasing the coronavirus testing. In the first week, the average testing was at 1 each day, and now in Week 16, the average has risen to 834. We aim to reach 1000 for each day," said the Chief Secretary. He said efforts to increase testing labs are also underway.

He claimed that "41 per cent of people" who have been tested positive for coronavirus are "asymptomatic".

"Besides the asymptomatic cases, 53 per cent have common symptoms. A total of 4.5 per cent and 1.74 per cent have medium to severe level of symptoms respectively," said Singh.

He elaborated on the plans laid out by the state government to revive the rural economy.

"We have decided to open up an apple sorting and grading centre in Arakot. This will help apple manufacturers. The state already has 83 growth centres, and we plan to open up 11 new centres soon. These centres will also provide job opportunities to the local residents," stated Singh.

Speaking about the migrants from Uttarakhand living in different parts of the country, he said that around 2,62,000 people had registered online.

"Out of all who registered, a total of 1,81,000 people have been brought back by trains, buses and private vehicles," said the Chief Secretary.

( With inputs from ANI )