COVID-19: Govt calls for invoking provisions of Epidemic Act; GOM reviews preparations

Amid the novel coronavirus outbreak, the cabinet secretary on Wednesday said all states and Union Territories should invoke provisions of Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 by means of which all advisories issued by the Union health ministry and state governments from time to time are enforceable.

The decision was taken at a meeting organised here by the cabinet secretary. It was attended by secretaries of departments concerned, representatives from Army, ITBP among others.

"It was decided that all states/UTs should be advised by MoHFW to invoke provisions of Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 so that all advisories being issued from time to time by the Ministry of Health Welfare/State/UTs are enforceable," the ministry said in a statement.

Besides, the high-level Group of Ministers (GOM) constituted on the directions of the prime minister to review, monitor and evaluate the preparedness and measures taken regarding management of COVID-19 also held its meeting here on Wednesday. 

The meeting was held under the chairpersonship of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan.

Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Minister of State for Home Nityananda Rai were also present in the meeting.

A presentation of the status of COVID-19 was made to the GOM.

The action taken for prevention and management of COVID-19 in India were presented which included information about the various travel advisories issued in view of the evolving global situation regarding the disease, the ministry said in a statement. 

As a measure of prevention, it is reiterated that passengers with travel history to China, Hong Kong, Republic of Korea, Japan, Italy, Thailand, Singapore, Iran, Malaysia, France, Spain and Germany should undergo self-imposed quarantine for a period of 14 days from the date of their arrival, and their employers should facilitate work-from-home for such employees during this period, the ministry said.

Health secretary Preeti Sudan apprised the GoM that the states/UTs are advised to do rigorous IEC (Information, Education and Communication) and make people aware about the precautions, symptoms and helpline numbers. 

The identification of additional quarantine facilities, development of isolation wards, training of health workers and doctors are also being undertaken, she said.

The official said universal screening is being done for travellers from 12 countries for all the flights from China, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Nepal, Indonesia, Iran and Italy at the earmarked aero-bridges.

The GoM undertook elaborate discussions on the various other precautionary measures and expressed their satisfaction with the actions taken, preparedness and efforts put together by various ministries, departments and states/UTs to combat novel coronavirus disease.