Govt to provide addl support to COVID warriors: LG

Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha chairing meeting on COVID-19 situation in Srinagar on Saturday.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha chairing meeting on COVID-19 situation in Srinagar on Saturday.

Orders short term recruitment of 200 NOs
Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Aug 8: Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha today lauded the unwavering efforts shown by the health workers and frontline Corona warriors for the significant role played by them in the containment and management of COVID-19 pandemic in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
“To acknowledge the crucial role COVID warriors are playing in fight against the deadly virus, the JK Government is considering to provide additional support to them, in addition to the existing insurance cover of Rs 50 lakhs”, he observed.
On noticing shortage of Ward staff in Isolation Wards, Sinha directed immediate appointment of 200 Nursing Orderlies on short term basis, 100 each in Kashmir and Jammu regions, to attend the COVID patients.
The Lt Governor was chairing a meeting to review the effective measures undertaken by the UT Government and various aspects related to COVID-19 control efforts in J&K.
Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor; BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary and Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner Health and Medical Education attended the meeting.
Sinha advised the concerned officers to involve religious leaders and distinguished personalities to spread awareness regarding importance of wearing face masks, social distancing and adherence to guidelines and advisories related to the prevention of COVID-19.
Stressing on strict enforcement of preventive measures, the Lt Governor asked the concerned to ensure thorough implementation of all SOP’s being issued by Central and the UT Government for preventive management of the COVID-19 situation, especially wearing of face masks.
Taking note of rise in cases in Kashmir division, the Lt Governor directed for laying special focus on districts with high infection rate, like Srinagar, Baramulla and Pulwama to mitigate the spread of the deadly virus.
He further called for taking effective measures to reduce the mortality rate, besides ensuring Oxygen availability for safety of patients amid the crisis.
Sinha called for 100% coverage of Aarogya Setu App, and regular quality check of the facilities available in quarantine and isolation centres for comprehensive and seamless management of the COVID-19 situation.
Briefing about the preparedness for COVID-19 in J&K, Financial Commissioner Health and Medical Education, Atal Dulloo informed the Lt Governor that Rapid Antigen Test is being conducted with 18,000 tests done in the last 5 days. 432 Ventilators received from Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India are in the process of installation in various health institutions and 342 ventilators are in transit.
Deliberations were also held on various important aspects, including procurement of protective gears; increasing the testing capacity; IEC activities; awareness on COVID-19; surveillance, sampling, patient care & counseling, hospital management, integrated COVID response and Red Zone Management.
Meanwhile, to get first hand appraisal of the facilities available for the COVID and non-COVID patients, Sinha paid a visit to the SMHS Hospital.
The Lt Governor took round of various sections of the hospital including Emergency, Indoor Wards and other sections wherein he interacted with doctors and paramedical staff of the hospital and took stock of the interventions made by the hospital administration while dealing with the ongoing pandemic COVID-19 as well the non-COVID patient care.
He enquired about the healthcare facilities and available infrastructure including necessary life-saving equipments like availability of isolation beds, ventilators, oxygen supply and other machinery required for treatment.
Sinha directed the Health functionaries for maintaining proper care and hygiene, besides following all the SOPs while dealing with the patients.

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