SOPORE, MAY 20 (KNS): Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Baseer Ahmad Khan, today visited Sopore town of Baramulla district and convened a meeting with all stakeholders regarding COVID-19 mitigation measures being implemented in the area to combat the global pandemic.
Advisor had a detailed discussion with the stakeholders comprising representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions, religious heads, transporters, traders and prominent citizens who presented their feedback and suggestions with regard to the issue.
Advisor, while deliberating on the COVID pandemic and its ramifications, said that the fight against this dreaded virus is a collaborative effort of local administration and civil society. He sought cooperation from the participants to tackle the pandemic effectively towards its end.
He said that the government is working unrelentingly to deal with the situation in the best possible way and the cooperation of people is imperative on this account. He asked the religious heads and PRIs to disseminate information about SOPs and preventive protocols regarding Covid to be followed in order to avert this monstrous virus.
“Understanding the gravity of the situation efforts of the government need to be supplemented by the whole community and in this endeavour the role of traders, hoteliers, transporters and religious leaders become more important and crucial", Advisor maintained.
Emphasizing the need to disseminate right information countering the rumours and misconceptions regarding the epidemic, Advisor said that accurate knowledge about the exact situation is essential to containing this virus. He asked the religious leaders to make the people aware about the disease and its preventive measures through Mosque in Sopore five times daily.
The advisor said that the Lieutenant Governor is taking a day to day review of the COVID-19 situation and is personally monitoring the performance of each department. He said the recent decision of the LG government regarding the establishment of 5 bedded Covid Care Centre in each Panchayat under CAPEX budget is a unique initiative that shall help greatly the people at the grass-root level. Also, the initiative taken by the LG regarding the reinforcement of tele-medication to the patients through Tele-consultations at each level will go a long way in containing this pandemic.
Advisor sought the status of tele-medication and the call centers working in the Baramulla district.
Deputy Commissioner informed that the 24x7 helpline is already functional and around 400 calls are being received daily beside a team of dedicated doctors attend the calls and give consultations over the phone which has reduced the influx of patients to the health care centers.
Advisor was informed that at present two new oxygen plants have been commissioned at the district headquarters. Presently, 400 oxygenated beds have been kept ready and for the first time ICU facility has been established in North Kashmir with five ventilators in place and more than 100 concentrators have been received and put to use.
Advisor stressed on the need for massive vaccination saying that adequate stock of vaccine has arrived and the administration should aggressively pursue the inoculation drive. He was informed that 2.5 lakh people have already been vaccinated in the district besides 259 dedicated teams have been deployed for the purpose of aggressive vaccination.
Meanwhile, Advisor reviewed the status of testing being done through RAT and RTPCR and was informed that around 3000 RAT tests are being conducted daily and around 1000 of RTPCR.
The visiting delegations and representatives of traders, transporters and religious leaders expressed their gratitude to the Advisor for his keenness to reach every corner of the Valley to have a ground assessment of the actual situation arisen due to Covid. They also expressed gratitude to Lieutenant Governor for his sincere efforts towards tackling the crisis with added zeal and dedication.(KNS)