Haryana to increase testing in five worst-hit NCR districts: Dushyant Chautala

The Haryana government will increase testing, hospital beds and ventilators to tackle coronavirus in five of its NCR districts that have been worst-hit by the pandemic, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said on Thursday.

A special attention will be paid to the districts of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Sonipat, Rohtak and Jhajjar, Chautala told reporters after a meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and attended by chief ministers of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi.

The arrangements in these districts will be made on a par with Delhi, Chautala said after the video conference with the Union home minister.

Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan also attended the meeting. Chautala said an emphasis was given on increasing testing and the number of ICU beds in the districts.

These five Haryana districts account for nearly 12,000 of the total 15,509 cases and 209 of the 251 fatalities.

Gurgaon alone has reported 5,569 cases and 96 fatalities while Faridabad has 4,028 infections with 83 deaths.

Chautala said to deal with coronavirus in the National Capital Region (NCR), the Union government and the governments of Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh are now working together and its impact is visible the past a few days with "decreasing" infections.

He said the Haryana government has also decided to start the convalescent plasma therapy for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

He said due to efforts of the state government, the rate of recovery has been steadily increasing.

In the meeting, Home Minister Amit Shah stressed on carrying out more COVID-19 tests by using rapid antigen kits and suggested that the focus should be on reducing mortality rate by ensuring early hospitalisation.