KO File Photo By Abid Bhat
Srinagar- Coronavirus cases continue to show an upwards trend as 65 more people in Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday tested positive for the virus while no fresh fatality was reported from the Union Territory during the last 24 hours.
According to officials, Kashmir Valley detected 19 fresh cases of novel Coronavirus while the remaining 46 were reported from various districts of Jammu division, taking the number of people infected by virus in the UT to 454742.
In the Valley, officials said, Srinagar reported the highest 18 new cases of virus while a single case was detected in Baramulla district. No new cases of Covid-19 were reported from other eight districts of the Valley.
In the winter capital, officials said, Jammu reported a maximum of 38 new cases of infection, Samba 5, Udhampur 2 and one new case of infection from Poonch district.
“Moreover, 21 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from various hospitals including 16 from Jammu division and 05 from Kashmir division,” the officials said.
Also, they said that no new Covid-19 related fatality was reported in J&K during the last 24 hours. So far, 4755 persons—2330 in Jammu and 2425 in Kashmir—have died due to the virus.
Take Every Measure To Restrict Virus Spread: CS
Meanwhile the Jammu and Kashmir government on Saturday directed health officials to take every measure to restrict the spread of Coronavirus in the Union Territory as the daily cases of infection continue to rise.
The directions to the health officials were passed by the Chief Secretary, Dr Arun Kumar Mehta in a high level meeting convened to review the Covid-19 scenario in the UT in view of rising cases in some states of the country, an official spokesperson said on Saturday.
Mehta, he said, stressed upon the health officers to intensify the tracing, testing and inoculation of precautionary dose to people especially to those with comorbid conditions.
“Dr Mehta impressed upon the officers to adopt prescribed level of random testing of those traveling from outside. He directed the health authorities to issue advisories to people so that the people remain safe and cautious. He asked them to encourage people to adhere to the Covid-19 protocols,” he added.
According to the spokesperson, the Chief Secretary advised them to remain vigilant and use social and other media to create awareness among people so that no rumor mongering occurs.
Mehta, he said, also asked them to create digital health records of patients visiting hospitals and integrate the same with Rapid Assessment System (RAS) for quality feedback of public.
“The Chief Secretary also maintained that the health infrastructure of the UT was upgraded to a larger extent during past few years. He reminded them it is for this reason that in the past the UT faced no major problem dealing with the pandemic. He suggested them to work for promotion of medical tourism here as the UT is set to establish medical cities in both the divisions here,” he added.
As per the spokesperson, the MD, NHM briefed the CS about the current scenario of the Covid-19 in the UT.
“He gave out that there is no major reason of concern for the people. He revealed that the health infrastructure available throughout J&K including isolation beds, oxygen supply and medicines are enough to deal with any situation and J&K faced no uneven occupancy of beds in recent times,” he said.
“It was further made out that the positivity rate in J&K in the past 24 hours is just 0.5% as compared to 1.2% at national level. It was stated that the overall recovery rate of patients in J&K is 98.9% as compared to 98.6% at the national level. It was also mentioned that the infections are less severe than in the past due to full vaccination of the whole population of J&K,” he added.
The spokesperson further said that in the meeting it was said that gene sequencing of hospitalized cases and assessment of bed occupancy is monitored continuously.
“Further the testing of travelers and checking their vaccination certificates would also be carried out to weed out chances of spread of the infection, the meeting was informed,” he added.
During the meeting, the spokesperson said suggestions from participants were taken and the preparations made at their end were also taken note of.
“It was ascertained during the meeting that there is no threat currently but following of precautions like wearing face masks and frequent hand washing needs to be adopted strictly to be safe and avoid any loss of life,” he added.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary, Health and Medical Education; Director SKIMS; Mission Director, NHM, DG Health & Family Welfare; Director Health, Kashmir/Jammu; Principles of GMCs, State Surveillance Officers, Jammu/Kashmir and Chief Medical Officers.
Several officers including Jammu based officers participated in the meeting through video conferencing.
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