States discuss measures taken to check COVID-19-THE HINDU-21-03-2020

Details:

State government has released an amount of Rs.116.25 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund to pay for measures to control spread of COVID-19.

According to the order released by the Revenue (Disaster Management), Rs.83.25 crore will be spent for provision of temporary accommodation, food, clothing,medical care etc., for people affected and sheltered in quarantine camps (other than home quarantine) and for cluster containment operations, cost of consumables for sample collection and to support for checking, screening and contact tracing.

Demand for financial support:

States have demanded financial support for those who may be out of work because of social distancing.Odisha Chief Minister has requested that Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme workers be paid wages for at least 50 days. Odisha Chief Minister also asked for funds for families covered under the National Food Security Act, additional instalments for farmers under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi and an economic package for various sectors.

The COVID-19 Economic Response Task Force set up by the Centre, would formulate the strategy to devise a “suitable approach” to effectively tackling the economic challenge. Increasing capacity of testing centres and laboratories:

Given the increasing number of cases and the importance of testing in the initial stages of the outbreak, the states have requested that the capacity of testing centres and laboratories be increased. Telangana Chief Minister requested the central government to utilize the facilities at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad for testing suspected cases.