Srinagar, April 03: With the increase in Covid-19 cases in April, the Jammu and Kashmir Health and Medical Education Department is stepping up testing in hospitals to stop the virus’ spread.
Bhupinder Kumar, administrative secretary for the Health and Medical Education (H&ME) Department, stated that the department is constantly monitoring the situation.
“The Covid-19 testing in hospitals is being enhanced. We are also improving RT-PCR . We test symptomatic individuals and adhere to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India,” he added.
Kumar stated that they have directed all field personnel to improve testing in hospitals so that they can monitor the pattern of cases and work appropriately.
The health department has directed all the concerned health officers and officers across the Union Territory to alert the surveillance and test the suspected cases.
The Administrative Secretary stated that they discussed tactics for dealing with the issue and underlined the need of maintaining close surveillance on the situation as well as having the infrastructure and resources on hand to deal with any similar occurrences.
Kumar recently took a review of Covid-19 and public health preparedness in Jammu and Kashmir in a high-level meeting.
As the number of daily Covid-19 cases in India rises, the Jammu and Kashmir Health Department will hold a mock drill in all hospitals on April 10 and 11 for an emergency reaction to Covid-19 cases as a preventative step.
“The simulated exercise will be performed to ensure the operational preparedness of the Covid-dedicated facilities,” the Administrative Secretary told Rising Kashmir.
He also stated that all district and sub-district hospitals’ oxygen plants will be restarted to see if they were still operational.
Meanwhile, the Directorate of Health Services Kashmir has issued an order directing all Chief Medical Officers to improve the rate of Covid-19 testing and create Flu clinics at all health facilities. The order said that the Covid-19 testing rate had not increased.
“Furthermore, there hasn’t been any increase in the proportion testing of RT-PCR which should be the benchmark of minimum 80 percent of total Covid19 testing,” it said.
The DHSK directed all CMOs to increase the rate of Covid-19 testing, proportion of RT-PCR, testing and ensure the establishment of Flu Clinics at all health institutions as per the guidelines issued by the Union Health Ministry.
On Sunday, Jammu and Kashmir reported 19 fresh Covid-19 cases taking the number of active cases to 148. Among the 19 new cases, 18 have been reported from Kashmir division and one from Jammu division.
Doctors said that people shouldn’t panic and take precautions, wear masks in crowded places, wash hands frequently and keep physical distancing.
They said high-risk groups, people with comorbidities and elderly need to be more vigilant. They said in coming days, cases may rise faster and the only way to stop this trend is to adopt Covid-Appropriate Behaviour.
Last week, when India witnessed rise in fresh Covid-9 cases, the Union Health Ministry advised all the states and Union Territories to effectively implement a five-fold strategy of test, track, treat, follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and vaccinate to check the spread.
The ministry has also asked the states to ensure the availability of required drugs and logistics for Influenza and Covid -19 across health facilities. Apart from this, states have been asked to ensure the availability of sufficient designated beds and health workers.
