Shimla, May 27 (IANS): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday stressed upon the need to ensure better facilities in institutional quarantine centres so that the people have a comfortable stay there.

Addressing Deputy Commissioners, Superintendents of Police and Chief Medical Officers through video conferencing, he said the sharp increase in the number of Covid-19 positive cases was due to people belonging to the state returning from other parts of the country.

He said most of the Covid-19 positive found in the state have travel history from Maharashtra and Delhi.

He said that it was the responsibility of the state to ensure safety and well-being of the Himachalis stranded in different parts of the country.

Thakur said that standard operation procedures should be adopted for saloons and they must be adhered to strictly.

He said that all the people arriving from red zones have to be kept under institutional quarantine and must be shifted to home quarantine only after their tests for Covid-19 are found to be negative.

Thakur said the same procedure needs to be adopted for Himachalis coming from other countries.