Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Mar 18: Deputy commissioner of the district, G Jagadeesha, instructed the officials to strictly enforce all the measures spelt out by the state government to stop coronavirus infection’s second wave in the district.

He was speaking after presiding over a meeting meant to discuss measures to be undertaken to regulate spread of second wave of the pandemic, held at the zilla panchayat auditorium on Wednesday March 17.

He asked officials to penalise people not wearing masks in public places. Noting that officials even at the village level have been delegated with the power of levying fine, he warned that officials found not imposing fines will face disciplinary action. He also wanted the fine to be imposed if the gathering for different events is more than the stipulated number. He said that nodal officers would be appointed to keep an eye on officials and to check whether they are functioning effectively.

He said that it is mandatory for the staff of all shops and malls to wear masks. "The shops should ask customers to wear marks, and steps will be taken against organizations found working without masks and steps like cancellation of their trading licences and steps under the Epidemic Act will be taken," he said.

He advised officials to ensure that all including aged people get vaccinated. He advised distribution of pamphlets to houses, use of jingles etc to spread awareness about Covid safety rules. He noted that most of the Covid positive cases in the district were found at Manipal Institute of Technology and as such declared that this area is being converted into containment zone.

Jagadeesha asked people and officials to inform the health department, panchayat office or the tahsildar about the arrival of people from Maharashtra and Kerala without Covid negative certificate that is not older than 72 hours.

Additional deputy commissioner Sadashiva Prabhu, sub-divisional officer Raju, district health officer Dr Sudhir Chandra Sooda, Covid nodal officer Dr Prashanth Bhat and officials were present.