Appealing the people to take precautions and go for vaccination, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Pandurang K Pole Tuesday said that so far they have no plan to impose lockdown in Kashmir and in case situation worsens appropriate decision will be taken.
“Jaan bhi, Jahaan bhi. We are not going to impose lockdown in Kashmir,” Pole told a news conference here. “There is callousness in the public which needs to be plugged immediately.”
He was flanked by DC Srinagar Muhammad Ajaz Asad, Director SKIMS Dr A G Ahanger, Principal GMC Srinagar Samia Rashid and Director Health Service Dr Mushtaq Rather.
He said that tourism in Kashmir was flourishing and Amaranth Yatra was on cards. “Anyone entering Kashmir from outside either by road, rail or air has been subjected to mandatory Covid-19 testing and allowed to move out freely only after a negative test report. Till date at Srinagar Airport more than five lakh inbound passengers have been tested for Covid-19,” he said.
The Divisional Commissioner said that the workforce needed for Yatra will be vaccinated. “So far all arrangements needed for the Yatra are being made,” he said adding that last year it was cancelled at the eleventh hour.
The Divisional Commissioner appealed to people to maintain proper Covid behaviour to prevent the spread of virus.
The Div Com said that there was sufficient bed capacity available at hospitals and oxygen facilities as a number of new oxygen generation plants have been installed at various health facilities to meet any sort of emergency situation.
He said though the government has taken various measures to contain the spread of virus however, as a shared responsibility it has become very imperative to follow the SOPs in letter & spirit by one and all.
He said people should avoid going to public places & busy markets unless extremely necessary. Besides, ensure wearing face mask & maintaining a social distance, hand hygiene, isolation in case of coming in contact with positive person.
The Div Com emphasized that people should come forward for covid vaccination as this is the best way to safeguard ourselves and our nears and dears from Covid-19.
While sharing the details, Div Com said a slew of measures have been taken including rigorous testing. He said a total of 2810339 Covid-19 tests have been performed till date which include 2082568 RAT & 727771 RT-PCR Tests. More than 7.5 lakh people have received Covid Vaccination in Kashmir which include Health Care Workers, Front-line Workers & people aged more than 45 years.
To deal with Covid-19 Pandemic, the divisional administration followed a multi-pronged approach, which involved a multi disciplinary coordination and activities. These include adopting/implementing preventive measures, containing the spread of covid-19 infection through Red/ Containment Zone strategy, Robust Contact Tracing, IEC activities aimed at behavioural changes, enhancing the testing capacities, designating the Covid Hospitals & Health Centers and increasing the availability of Beds, High-flow Oxygen supply & other necessary logistics for Covid patients.
Besides, establishing Flu clinics in different hospitals of Kashmir not only helped in picking up the symptomatic cases of Covid-19 but also prevented the other patients visiting these hospitals from contracting the Covid-19 infection.
The divisional administration established a Divisional Covid Control Room, at the start of this Pandemic, in the month of March 2020 under the supervision of Divisional Commissioner Kashmir, which played the pivotal role of coordinating all the Covid-19 Mitigation activities in addition to a robust mechanism of surveillance & data analysis.
Director SKIMS said that besides tackling COVID, SKIMS is catering to cancer and other high risk patients. “There is no dearth of beds,” he said.
Principal GMC Srinagar and DHSK Kashmir also briefed the media persons during the news conference.