JAMMU, APRIL 11,CNS : Lieutenant Governor, Girish
Chandra Murmu today briefed the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi,
about the efforts of the UT Administration for management and
containment of COVID-19 pandemic in Jammu and Kashmir.
The
Prime Minister was interacting with Chief Ministers and heads of all
States/UTs through video conferencing to review the efforts of the
States/UTs to combat COVID-19.
The
Lt Governor provided feedback to the PM about the COVID positive cases
in J&K and steps taken by the UT Administration to maintain social
distancing, ramp up healthcare infrastructure, mitigate difficulties of
migrants and maintain supply of essentials.
The
Lt Governor informed the PM that there are 4 deaths and 224 positive
cases in the UT, with 98% of the cases having travel history or contacts
of the positive patients. In J&K, 5 districts are affected with
coronavirus and 77 areas have been declared as Red Zones, he maintained.
He
further informed that 16 dedicated COVID Hospitals with 208
ventilators, besides 2500 isolation beds, 25000 non hospital beds are
available and 400 more ventilators are being procured. Further, about
5500 people are under home quarantine and 30,000 labourers are living in
camps. Around 18,000 health care professionals; 30,000 police personnel
and others have been trained, who are working towards the containment
of the spread of coronavirus, he added.
The
Lt Governor apprised the PM that the UT Administration has rolled out
an effective mechanism and strenuous efforts are underway to reach out
to the beneficiaries under various welfare schemes including 7 lakh
farmers covered under PM KISSAN; 8 lakh account holders under PMJDY;
12.5 lakh families getting LPG, 7 lakh families being provided with
ration and other benefits. Dedicated call centres have been established
to assist the stranded labourers and students from and outside the UT,
he added. During the interaction, the Prime
Minister observed that next 3-4 weeks are critical to determine impact
of steps taken till now to curb spread of the virus and suggested
specific measures for agriculture and allied sector.
He
also spoke about popularizing the ‘Aarogya Setu’ app to ensure
downloads in greater numbers. Aarogya Setu app is an essential tool in
our fight against COVID-19, which can subsequently act as e-pass to
facilitate travel etc, he added.
The
Prime Minister categorically assured that India has adequate supplies
of essential medicines and said that measures are being taken to ensure
availability of protective gears and critical equipments for all
front-line warriors. He underlined that the motto of the government
earlier was ‘jaan hai to jahaan hai’ but now it is ‘jaan bhi, jahaan
bhi’. He talked about strengthening the healthcare infrastructure and
reaching out to patients through tele-medicine and also suggested that
direct marketing for farm produce can be incentivised to prevent
crowding in mandis.
He observed that the combined efforts of the Centre and the States/UTs have definitely helped reduce the impact of COVID-19.Soon
after the video conferencing, the Lt Governor chaired a meeting on
COVID-19 control efforts and directed for effective implementation of
restrictions in Red-Zones with aggressive & targeted testing to
contain the spread of COVID-19 in the Union Territory of Jammu and
Kashmir. Sh. BVR
Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Sh. Dilbag Singh , DGP; Sh. Atal Dulloo,
Financial Commissioner Health and Medical Education; Sh. Shaleen Kabra,
Principal Secretary to Government, Home Department; Sh. Bipul Pathak,
Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor attended the meeting.
The
Lt Governor directed for conducting 100% testing of inmates of Old Aged
Homes in wake of the emerging situation and entrusted upon the officers
to ensure supply of essentials in Red Zones so that people do not face
any inconvenience on this part.As precautionary
measures, the Lt Governor stressed on immediate capacity enhancement
with regard to availability of quarantine and isolation beds and
directed for enhancing of infrastructural requirement in J&K. He
directed for readying atleast 3000 quarantine beds, and minimum 2500
isolation beds in Kashmir and 1500 beds in Jammu. He further directed
for sufficient supply of nebulizers and Oxygen canisters and emphasized
on the maintenance of strict quarantine and isolation protocol across
J&K.
Deliberations
were also held on various important issues including stock positioning
of protective equipments; intensifying contact tracing campaign; smooth
transportation of essential commodities; effective mobilization of
volunteers; conducting of health checkups on regular basis; fumigation
and sanitation drives; besides other preventive measures. (CNS)
