COVID-19: Uttarakhand govt begins distributing financial aid to hotel industry employees

As the hotel industry is one of the most hit sectors amid COVID-19, Uttarakhand Chief Minister's Office (CMO) on Thursday, September 2, informed that the state government would give Rs 2,000 to employees of hotels, restaurants, and homestays registered with the tourism department. It will be distributed for five months through the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

CMO stated, "This comes under the Covid relief package announced in the tourism sector".

According to the release, the tourism department is transferring permissible assistance to the accounts of the employees whose names are uploaded by the respective hotels, restaurants, and homestays on the tourism department's portal.

As per the information received, CMO said, as of August 31, an amount of Rs 3,66,37,580 has been transferred to the accounts of 9398 people in the state. 

CMO release further read, the number of registered hotels include, in Dehradun district is 1333, Uttarkashi 552, Haridwar 472, Tehri 1142, Pauli 328, Rudraprayag 681, Almora 446, Bageshwar 230, Pithoragarh 1084, Champawat 71, Nainital 2075, Udham Singh Nagar 403 and 581 in Chamoli district. 

Uttarakhand reports the first case of Delta Plus AY-12 variant

On Tuesday, August 31, the Pauri Garhwal district of Uttarakhand reported its first case of the Delta Plus AY-12 variant of Coronavirus. The case was reported in Kotdwar, a small locality in Pauri Garhwal. As per the State Health Department, necessary guidelines have been issued and the concerned patient has been asked to remain quarantined at home.

The medical team of the state’s health department has been given the task of continuously monitoring the patient. The health officials further said that the relatives or whoever else that came in contact with the patient were being traced and asked to isolate themselves. The authorities have also begun testing at the entry points of the Pauri Garhwal district. A total of 15 new COVID-19 cases have been reported in the district.

COVID situation in Uttarakhand

To date, Uttarakhand has reported a total of 3.43 lakh COVID cases with 7,387 deaths. The state has administered a total of 86,00,922 COVID vaccine doses across 947 vaccination sites. 

With ANI inputs

Image: PTI