Pvt labs to be allowed to conduct COVID-19 tests in Uttarakhand

The Uttarakhand government on Friday said it has decided to allow private labs which have ICMR permission to test suspected COVID-19 cases.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the state cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat.

"Private labs which have the permission of the ICMR will be roped in through a proper tender process to test suspected COVID-19 cases in the state as we are going to need more testing labs," state government spokesman and cabinet minister Madan Kaushik said.

The tender process will be concluded within four days instead of 15 as decided earlier, Kaushik told reporters at the media briefing soon after the cabinet meeting.

The cabinet decision came on a day when Uttarakhand reported more than one hundred coronavirus cases, the highest in a single day in the state so far.

The cabinet also decided not to impose any cuts on the allowances being given to government employees in view of the pandemic. But it decided that all employees from the chief secretary down to those in the fourth grade will donate their one-day salary to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund every month during the ongoing financial year.

No cuts will be imposed on pensioners, Kaushik said.

The cabinet also decided to grant relief to all farmers under the integrated horticulture development scheme.

Fifty per cent as state assistance grant will be given to all farmers on vegetables, seeds and flowers.

Under the labour act of the Labour Department all shop owners will have to pay salaries to their employees who are COVID-19 suspects for 28 days of their quarantine period.

All shops and factories with more than 10 employees will be provided sanitisers to check the spread of the coronavirus, the cabinet decided.