Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, Pandurang K Pole on Tuesday said all migrant laborers shall undergo COVID19 testing in districts from July 23.
Pole passed on the directions while chairing a weekly COVID19 review meeting to take stock of the situation and arrangements put in place for effective containment of deadly virus.
He said the laborers will be tested in the respective districts of work and in this regard he directed all Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of Kashmir to constitute three-member teams and train them for smooth conduct of antigen testing of all laborers.
Pole instructed the DCs to identify centrally located places and structures like schools, bus stands and vacant buildings to conduct these tests and added that antigen testing shall help in quick identification of the positive cases and their separation from others to control spread of the disease.
He said the laborers who test positive shall be immediately sent into quarantine, while those who test negative shall be allowed for work at brick kilns.
Pole directed concerned to put in place all required facilities, necessary infrastructure and keep PPE kits available for the staff to be deployed at these testing centers.
Stressing on coordinated efforts by the officers, Pole called for decongestion of four tertiary care hospitals in Srinagar and reverse referral of patients to districts for effective containment of COVID19.
The DCs and health officers were instructed to raise the current bed capacity in their districts to avoid referrals and besides they were directed to check bed availability before patient referral to Srinagar.
Pole laid emphasis on the adherence of all SOPs and guidelines across all districts and directed the DCs to rope in religious leaders for awareness generation on importance of use of mask and maintaining of social distancing.
He stressed on daily updating of discharged patients from all districts and proper functioning of dedicated COVID19 ambulances in all districts.
Various issues including maintenance of plasma bank, availability of medicines, selection of nurses, and maintenance of patient directory were also discussed threadbare in the meeting.