Press Information Bureau

Karnal Smart City has undertaken the following initiatives to combat COVID-19:

1. Resource Management and Administration

Augmentation of Medical Infrastructure: Availability of medical infrastructure is ensured (as on April 15, 2020) including 1,577 PPE kits; 13,348 masks N-95; 66,076 three-layer masks; 1,873 litre of sanitizers; 434 VTM; 2,580 sodium hydrochloride; 295,805 gloves; 05 thermal scanners; 125 no. of isolation wards for COVID patients; 1,000 additional beds for quarantine; 92 D type & 36 B type oxygen cylinder availability and 50 functional ventilators.

Manufacturing of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs): PPEs are the most essential equipment for the doctors and frontline workers for combating COVID-19 pandemic. In PPE kit manufacturing plant, more than 300 kits are manufactured every day.

Masks are produced by Self Help Groups: More than 65,000 total masks are produced; on an average 4,000 are produced each day; more than 250 self-help group members are involved; and about 52,000 masks have been sold till date.

Quarantine Facilities: Karnal City has capacity of 3,396 beds for COVID patients – this include 1,632 Government buildings; 1,224 Dharamshala; and 540 hotels. Out of 1,000 identified beds – 43 citizens are quarantine in Government building and 914 are home quarantined. Further, patients under home quarantined are monitored through cell tower location by police.

Karnal Live Tracker App: An app has been developed to track citizens who are home quarantined. There is a simple process to get registered on app and post registration – a citizen has to report six times with a gap of two hours in a day start from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm; next step is to upload latest photo and record their body temperature. Also, by giving access to the current location, latitude and longitude of citizen are captured. The app offers features like tele counselling to ensure upkeep of mental health of the citizen.

Testing Lab: Kalpana Chawla Government Hospital in collaboration with district administration has adopted a resourceful approach to setup COVID-19 testing lab. A lab has a capacity of testing 150 samples each day.

Sample Collection Kiosk: The kiosk is manufactured locally to ensure protection of the doctors/staff involved in sample collection. It is much safer, faster and more efficient collection of COVID-19 test samples.

2. Food and Relief Measures

Shelter Homes for Migrant Labourers: The total number of displaced migrant workers in Karnal is 784, who are residing in 7 shelter homes across the district. The district administration in collaboration with NGOs has been successful in providing shelter, food, basic essentials and medical facilities to the migrant labourers working in Karnal and those from other districts willing to cross. Administration collaborated with Radha Swami Satsang Bhawan to provide the necessities for a comfortable stay. Emphasis was given on the following measures – lodging; food; hygiene kit; personal commodities; medical assistance; police assistance; and other essentials.

Adopt a Family Initiative: A Corona Relief Fund was started at the district level, to ensure that dry ration can be delivered to daily wage workers. These vulnerable & needy families were identified by a screening method and by self-reporting at district helpline 1950. Families are being provided a packet of dry ration – rice, atta, cooking oil, pulses, sugar, salt, cooking masala, haldi and soap. Till date, approx. 70 lakh rupees have been donated, which means that approx. 14,000 poorest families will be taken care throughout the district.

Dry Ration distribution: District Administration is providing dry ration to daily wage workers who are not covered under PDS or any other Government scheme. Shri Krishna Parnami School, Karnal has been converted into a donation center to maintain stocks of all the essentials. About 2,440 packets have been distributed and 4,160 packets are in stock at the center. The cost of one packet of weekly dry ration is approx. 475 rupees.

Cooked Meals Distribution: Out of 15 lakh population, approx. 5 lakh belongs to unorganized sector. A collaboration with ‘Nirmal Kutia’ (a gurudwara) and district administration Karnal created a sustainable model for successfully dealing with the hunger crisis. Meal is served at 97 identified locations each day.

Doorstep delivery of Essentials: a) Online delivery – (i) Facilitated linkage of kirana shops and dairies with online platforms; (ii) Collaboration with Needs on Wheels (NOW); (iii) more than 10,000 orders have been delivered successfully b) Localized delivery – (i) localized delivery of essentials effectively implemented; (ii) vendor designated by district administration.

3. Precautionary Measures & Citizen Outreach

Lockdown Enforcement: Complete lockdown was imposed due to COVID-19 by the district administration and district police helped in its implementation.

Accessibility for emergency services: Movement passes issued online for ensuring mobility for essential and emergency services and  per day approvals are limited to ensure social distancing.

24*7 Helpline Numbers

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