Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said on Saturday that the State was ready to help Delhi manage its spiralling COVID-19 cases .
“Delhi is fighting a tough battle, and we are there to help if needed. I have said this earlier also,” he said. “While nobody knows when the second wave of the epidemic will strike Punjab, experience of the national capital region and other States show that it is an almost certain eventuality.” He assured the people that the government was taking all possible measures to meet the situation.
He was speaking after digitally launching 107 health and wellness centres to boost healthcare infrastructure in the State and provide health services to patients at their doorsteps, in both rural and urban areas.
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While it was the duty of the State government to support healthcare and other frontline workers, many of whom had been infected and some had even lost their lives, it was also the responsibility of the people to actively partner the State in the fight against the pandemic by strictly following safety norms, the Chief Minister said.
Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said the State government was converting all health sub-centres into health and wellness centres in a phased manner to provide quality healthcare services to the patients, especially in villages. Since March 2019, nearly 55.8 lakh people had availed themselves of the out-patient department (OPD) services, another 20 lakh had been screened for hypertension, 12 lakh for diabetes and 17 lakh for cancer (oral, breast and cervical). Apart from these, 14 lakh patients had been given medicines and various diagnostic tests were done on 18 lakh patients, he said.
