Genome Sequencing Labs

Jammu and Kashmir has been prime focus UT for GoI and time to time they
provide best possible backup to localadministration whole heartedly without any
constrains but it seems some of our local officers have never learnt anything from their pastmistakes. COVID-19 fully exposed the tallclaims of best health infra of Jammu and
Kashmir and the result was for everyone tosee during the days of crisis, oxygen plants
non functional, shortage of ventilators andwhen ventilators were provided shortage of
operating staff. Somehow good offices of LG managed with establishment of DRDO hospitals at Jammu and Srinagar but even then Health and Medical Education Department
seems in inaction mood. Keeping in view of serious situation faced during Delta COVID
variant, GoI immediately established Genome Labs for sequencing the samples as
Omnicron variant was supposed to be detected by this way only, two such labs were allotted to Jammu and Srinagar, one each. Equipment came in July last year but
remained unpacked as there was no crisis at that time and authorities thought it to be a
futile exercise to even install the machine. The result is new variant of Omnicron-BF.7 detected by Genome Sequencing only and our authorities again clueless what to do. After letter from Central Health Department to go for
Genome Sequencing the authorities finally decided to wake up and start somehow moving. The GMC Srinagar lab is ready for inauguration but the Jammu one is still in incubation mode. Even when completed it will take time to get it recognised and operational. The
question remains why public made to suffer, why for everything we have to be dependent
on GoI, why no proactive decisions taken and why no accountability being fixed? Knee jerk
reactions are never going to work, neither in past nor in future. keeping in view of life and
death issues of public, officers must be preemptive enough to act on their own, tragedies
don’t have excuses every time.