Atul Garg, Minister of State for Medical and Health in the Uttar Pradesh government, said on Monday that strict action would be taken against those chemists who sell masks and sanitisers at more than the maximum retail price. District authorities have suspended licences of five chemists for selling masks and sanitisers at 8 to 10 times the regular price.
After surveying government hospitals in Ghaziabad designated for possible COVID-19 patients, Mr. Garg said the situation was under control in the State.
“Strict orders have been passed under the epidemic Act and those who do not follow them would be prosecuted. District Magistrates would ensure that nobody indulges in black marketing of masks and sanitisers,” he said. He also urged citizens to present themselves for testing if they show symptoms of infection. Multiplexes, single-screen theatres, gyms and clubs have been shut down in the district till March 31.
He further said five new sample testing centres were being opened in the State. Right now, labs at the King George Medical College, Lucknow, and Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh, have the facility to test samples for COVID-19. Mr. Garg said this facility will soon be extended to BRD Medical College, Gorakhpur, and Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. “In 75 districts of the State, isolation wards with a total of 820 beds have been earmarked for such patients,” he said.
‘Two positive cases’
Narendra Kumar Agarwal, CMO, Ghaziabad, said that out of the 36 samples taken by the department in the city, two have been found to be positive. “One is recuperating in Delhi while the other is in MMG Hospital in Ghaziabad. The reports of four samples are awaited,” he said.
