Hyderabad: Citizens told to follow Covid guidelines

Hyderabad: After the State government announced complete unlocking, the Health department is concerned over public behaviour. The officials urged people to follow Covid guidelines and keep wearing facemasks and to maintain physical distance strictly. The department warned that any negligence may lead to adverse situation.

Requesting people to follow Covid guidelines, Director Public Health Srinivasa Rao reminded:"it is great that we have come out of the second wave. Negligence after the first wave led the State to the second wave.

It costs huge loss to the economy. The same will repeat if guidelines are violated. We have to follow the guidelines to avoid this kind of situation again in the State".

Violators may be booked under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. This time also a penalty will be imposed for not wearing face masks, he warned.

The Director Medical Education, welcoming the unlock, said that "the government is continuously working to control the Coronavirus. But it is also the responsibility of people to follow the Covid-appropriate behavior properly.

It is impossible to control the virus without the cooperation of the citizens. We are responsible for the second wave. We have to learn from our mistakes. This time to avert any wave we shoud follow the Covid norms properly."

He added that even during the lockdown relaxation hours people were seen violating physical distance norms, despite the police constantly telling them to avoid mass gatherings in markets. "Community spreading had taken place on a large scale during that period".

The department officials said vaccination in the State has been accelerated during the second wave. Every citizen aged above 18 is being vaccinated.

The vaccination drives are being conducted category wise strategically to cover people with high exposure first. More than 90 lakh people in the State have been vaccinated.

It will be speeded up as the Union government has announced free vaccination to all. "The Covid testing centres throughout the State are also working usually", they added.