Coronavirus disease testing at home (Covid-19), freedom to sit and deliver a speech in the House, freedom to undergo a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test in a constituency , a one-way move in the Central Hall and Key Corridors are some of the new measures that Parliament will offer to Members of Parliament (MPs) to ensure a safe and secure monsoon session to take place between September 14 and October 1st.
In meeting with Lok Sabha President Om Birla, health experts gave several suggestions to ensure maximum security for MPs during the next monsoon session.
The MPs will sit maintaining the minimum required distance between two seats in a mini cubicle, which will be separated by sheets of plexiglass.
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Dr Randeep Guleria, Director of the Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, suggested at the meeting that parliamentarians should be able to sit and speak rather than the tradition of standing. Sitting down would ensure that the spray didn’t spread, Dr. Guleria explained. President Birla is believed to have appreciated the suggestion, officials said.
Rajesh Bhushan, Union Secretary, Family Health and Welfare, suggested another plan that, too, won immediate approval from President Birla.
Bhushan suggested that, in line with the Vande Bharat Mission evacuees, who would undergo an RT-PCR test before boarding a flight, similarly, MPs could be asked to undergo the Covid- test. 19 72 hours before attending Parliament. Lawmakers could be asked to carry out the RT-PCR test in their homes or in their respective electoral districts, he added.
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Dr. Guleria also suggested that one-way movement be allowed in some key corridors and in the Central Hall of Parliament.
Visitors and the media will not be able to access these areas during the next monsoon session of Parliament.
The measure, explained the head of AIIMS, would prevent parliamentarians from meeting face to face frequently and reduce the possibility of transmission of SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19.
President Birla accepted the call that the Indian Tea Board and Indian Coffee Board would provide the beverages in disposable paper cups and cups would not be used.
There was also some debate about the installation of an RT-PCR machine at Lok Sabha. While Birla asked if such a machine can be installed in the Lower House of Parliament, health experts noted that handling large amounts of swab samples could be a risky proposition, as some could test positive for Covid-19.
Instead, Dr. Guleria suggested that technicians could be dispatched to an MP’s residence in the national capital to collect the swab sample that could be sent for testing in a government-run laboratory. Birla accepted the proposal and joked, “Why didn’t I have such a good idea before?”
At the Vande Bharat Mission, evacuees must upload their negative Covid-19 72 test report before boarding a repatriation flight, if they wish to benefit from the exemption from the mandatory seven-day institutional quarantine.
The guidelines established that within 96 hours before boarding the flight, evacuees could undergo an RT-PCR test in their departure city, and if the tests show negative Covid-19, they must publish the result and go to their respective homes upon arrival. in the country.
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