Shimla, Nov 28 (PTI) The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to restrict the number of people to 50 at all social gatherings, an official statement said on Saturday.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur made the announcement while presiding over a virtual meeting with deputy commissioners, SPs, chief medical officers, principals and medical superintendents state colleges, according to the release.

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To break the chain of the virus, Thakur said now government employees will work for five days from Monday to Friday in the office and on the sixth day of the week (Saturday) they will be working from home till December 15.

Thakur attributed the recent spurt in the number of COVID patients to the casual approach of people attending marriages and other social gatherings.

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At the same time, he said the changes in the weather are also resulting in the spread of the virus.

Expressing concern over the increase in the number of cases, he said the restrictions on the gatherings should be implemented in letter and spirit.

The chief minister also directed the deputy commissioners to rope in private hospitals and laboratories for testing and treatment of COVID patients.

Thakur said proper protocol must be adopted for the treatment of asymptotic patients under home isolation.

He said such patients must be provided all required inputs for their proper medication.

He said oxymeters must be made available to these patients so that they could regularly monitor their oxygen levels.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)