Haryana Govt notifies COVID-19 as epidemic in state

The Haryana Government has notified, 'The Haryana Epidemic Disease, COVID-19 Regulations, 2020' under section 2, 3 and 4 of the Epidemic Disease Act 1897 on Thursday.

According to the press note, the regulations shall come into force immediately and shall remain valid for a period of one year from the date of publication of this notification.

"Under these regulations, all hospitals should have Flu corners for the screening of suspected cases of COVID- 19. All hospitals during the screening of such cases shall record the history of travel of the person if they travelled to any country or area where COVID-19 has been reported," it said.

"In case the person has any such history in the last 14 days and the person is asymptomatic then the person must be kept in home quarantine for 14 days from the day of exposure," it further stated.

It stated that no person, institution, organization will use any print or electronic media for information regarding COVID-19 without prior permission of the Haryana Health Department.

"This is to avoid the spread of any rumour or unauthenticated information regarding COVID-19. Any person, institution, organisation is found indulging in such activity; it will be treated as a punishable offence under these regulations," it said.

No private Laboratories have been authorised to take test samples for COVID-19 in Haryana. All such samples will be collected as per the guidelines of Government of India and these will be sent to designated labs by the District Nodal Officer appointed by the State Health Department.

Meanwhile, authorized persons as per section 3 of these regulations are authorised under this Act to admit a person and isolate the person if required.

"If a suspected case of COVID-19 refuses admission or isolation, the officers authorized in section 3 of these regulations will have powers to forcefully and isolate such case for a period of 14 days from the onset of symptoms or till reports of Lab tests are received or such period as may be necessary," the statement said.

The District Disaster Management Committee headed by Deputy Commissioner is authorized for planning strategy regarding containment measures for COVID- 19 in their respective Districts.

"The Deputy Commissioner may co-opt more officers from different departments for the District Disaster Management Committee for this activity under these regulations," it mentioned.