Ministry of Health releases SOP for festive season

New Delhi: Festival seasons are coming in the country now. During this period festivals include religious worship, melas, rallies, exhibitions, cultural functions, processions, in such a large number of people gather at one place. As we all know, these days the Corona period is going on all over the world.

Now, when people gather together in the festival season in the country, the risk of spreading of corona infection will be equally high. Keeping this in mind, the Union Health Ministry has issued new guidelines for precaution during the festive season. The Union Health Ministry has issued an SOP, according to which no program will be allowed in the Containment Zone.

Persons over 65 years of age, pregnant women and children under 10 years of age are advised to stay home. This SOP also applies to event managers and employees. Navratri is about to begin soon and during this time pandals are set up all over the country.

Apart from this, many types of fairs and events are organized. According to the guidelines, complete planning will have to be done for religious programs. Crowd and social distancing will have to be taken care of. For physical distancing, marks have to be placed on the ground, the distance between which has to be kept 6 feet.

The necessity of physical distancing and masks will become more important during religious programs. Apart from this, route planning will also be done in religious rallies in advance. The idol immersion sites will also be predetermined. During this time also the presence of people will be kept in very small numbers.

Touching of idols in religious places / pandals will be prohibited. Program administrators must ensure adequate availability of sanitizers and thermal guns. Also, CCTV cameras will be mandatory in the place where the program will be done so that the rules of social distancing can be followed.

In community kitchens, langars have to follow the rules of social distancing. Those running community kitchens have to take complete care of cleanliness. The process from cleaning the venue to removing the shoes and slippers has also been described.

In all events, a doctor should be provided with a linkage to the nearest hospitals for health emergency status. Safe drinking water should be arranged in the program or venue with provisions for disposable cups or glasses.