Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday launched a mobile-based app 'Ghar Ghar Nigr' to undertake house-to-house surveillance in the state to eliminate the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a video conference, Singh with state Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu described the Health Department initiative, encompassing ASHA workers/community volunteers, as a "tool for early detection and testing of the coronavirus, and preventing its community spread".
Speaking about the initiative of the government, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Anurag Agarwal said that the entire rural and urban population of Punjab above 30 years of age shall be surveyed as part of the drive, which will also cover persons below the age of 30 having co-morbidity or influenza-like illness/severe acute respiratory illness.
This would not be a one-time activity but an ongoing process till the containment of COVID, added Agarwal.
The survey is currently underway in 518 villages and 47 urban wards. Around 4.88 per cent persons have been found to be hypertensive, 2.23 per cent are diabetic, 0.14 per cent is having kidney disease, 0.64 per cent is suffering from heart disease, 0.13 per cent has TB and 0.13 per cent has Cancer.
According to the Union Health Ministry, the state has reported 2,887 coronavirus cases of which 569 are active and 2,259 have cured/discharged/migrated while 59 have succumbed to the disease.
( With inputs from ANI )