Deputy Commissioner (DC), Srinagar Shahid Choudhary on Saturday launched the capacity building and training of staff of restaurants across the city under COVID19 prevention protocols.
A statement said the home delivery from restaurants was permissible in red zone districts however in view of prevailing situation the District Disaster Management Authority initiated capacity building and training of service delivery staff before permitting operation of the restaurants.
Training certificate for the management and staff, and COVID test has been made mandatory as per the protocol developed by DDMA in collaboration with Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar, said the statement.
The DC said that capacity building of all the service delivery sector has been underway for the last two weeks to ensure that persons involved in the delivery of goods and services were trained for mandatory precautions to avoid COVID19 spread.
“It, however, should not be construed as lifting of lockdown which has to be a gradual and graded process in due course of time,” said the DC.
He sought public cooperation for minimising public gatherings, mandatory use of masks, maintaining physical distance, hygiene protocols and staying at home as far as practicable.
The DC said the wide ranging interactions with all stakeholders like trade and business community, public health experts, service delivery sectors and religious heads were aimed at preparing the community for precautions and preventive measures required to contain COVID19.
He impressed upon the staff to religiously adhere to the guidelines imparted during training and SOPs developed for operation of restaurant services for delivery of food.
More than 300 personnel from restaurant sector were also tested for the COVID19 and training certificates were provided to individual unit holders.
The President and Vice-President of Restaurant Association, Srinagar thanked the administration for proactive measures aimed at capacity building and training, and assured to adopt the mandatory protocols for safety.
The DDMA Srinagar has trained more than 2,000 persons for COVID prevention, drawn from various sectors including vegetable vendors, meat sellers, bakers, wazas, shopkeepers, technicians and key field staff involved in delivery of essential services.