CS asks for scaling up to two lakh tests daily
Jammu Tawi, Jan 05: Amid surge in the Covid-19 cases, the Administration has ordered to impose night curbs in Jammu and Kashmir in a bid to prevent the virus from spreading.
The Administration has ordered imposition of night curfew from 09 PM in the evening to 6 AM in the morning. It has also ordered complete restriction on non-essential movement in the Union Territory from 09 PM to 06 AM.
Officials told that the decision was taken during a meeting held under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary, J&K (Chairman State Executive Committee) along with the ACS (Health and Medical Education) and other senior Health functionaries today regarding the increase in the number of Covid cases in the entire J&K.
They said that it has been ordered that there shall be a complete restriction on non-essential movement in the entire UT of J&K from 9 pm to 6 am till further orders.
Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta asked the Health and Medical Education Department to scale up testing to reach a target of 2 lakh tests per day with a proportional increase in RtPCR tests.
The Department was asked to ramp up medical facilities and prepare for catering to any surge in reported cases of infections. The Department was also asked to stock up on medical supplies and keep all equipment, machinery, and infrastructure in a state of readiness.
The Chief Secretary reiterated the need of promoting COVID Appropriate Behaviour- masking, social distancing, and crowd management; COVID SoPs and protocols among the general masses and directed the enforcement agencies to ensure adherence to the laid down guidelines.
Pertinently, Jammu and Kashmir has recorded a surge in Covid-19 cases in the last few weeks. The surge in the cases is being recorded at a time when the new variant, Omicron, has created panic across the globe.
Although there have been no Omicron cases at present in Jammu and Kashmir, the government has claimed to have taken steps to tackle any situation.
“This time we have oxygen supported beds in thousands which earlier were just in few hundred besides that there are oxygen plants now in every major District and some sub hospitals now,” the officials had recently told.
“Government won't lower the guard in the fight against the Covid-19, however, public cooperation is must and should continue to follow Covid appropriate behavior,” the official said.
A top official of Health and Medical Education had said that in the last six months, the number of isolation beds in J&K have increased from 8,000 to 20,000.
