Punjab govt issues advisory on maintaining and ensuring safety of food and other essentials

Punjab Government on Friday issued an advisory on maintaining and ensuring the safety of food and other essential household items during the coronavirus pandemic. An official spokesman of the Health and Family Welfare department said that the Punjab Government has imposed severe restrictions on the free movement of people in the larger public interest of controlling the spread/transmission of Coronavirus. In the general advisory, the Punjab Government directs the shop-owner, delivery staff, and customers to wear cloth masks at all times. The mask should also be worn even if the purchase of groceries or collection of an order takes a fraction of time. The masks shall be worn in a manner that it snuggly covers the nose as well as the mouth. The cloth mask should be washed with soap and water daily after use. The spokesman further said that the customers are advised not to indulge in any handshakes even with a known acquaintance. Similarly, the shop-owners and delivery staff should not handshake amongst themselves or with anyone else. All are advised to follow strict social distancing measures and maintain a minimum distance of 1 metre amongst them at all times. Likewise, the customers and delivery staff are advised to strictly adhere to the social distancing circles or markings laid down by the shopkeepers outside their shop. All should wait patiently for their turn and avoid crowding at all costs he added. He also said that all the shop-owners, customers and delivery staff should wash their hands using the foot-operated hand washing stations, if available. Wash the hands with soap for at least 40 seconds by applying the soap gently on the palm and back of the hand including web spaces between the fingers and space between the finger and the thumb and the wrist wherever and whenever the opportunity to wash the hands is available. However, a two-hourly hand wash is recommended. All the customers and delivery staff is advised to sanitise their hands with the sanitizer bottles mounted at the entry point of the shop premises. Alcohol-based sanitizer should be mounted at the entrance wall of the shops for the shopkeeper and his/her workers as well as the customers to sanitize their hands before entering the premises. Also Read | PM Modi must devolve power to win coronavirus battle, or there’ll be calamity: Rahul Gandhi Use a minimum of 3 ml of the sanitizer on DRY HANDS for at least 30 seconds for good hygienic hand disinfection. The shop-owners, customers and the delivery staff should not smoke or chew tobacco-based products such as gutka, pan masala, etc. in the marketplaces. In case of a cough and sneeze, the shopkeeper, customers or delivery staff should use the handkerchief to cover the face which shall then be kept in his/her own pocket in a manner that the surface of the handkerchief exposed to the cough and sneeze shall not touch the other parts of the belongings directly. -PTC News