Lt Governor briefs the Union Health Minister about the UT Administration’s efforts in mitigating spread of COVID-19 in J&K

Jammu: Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu today briefed Dr. Harsh Vardhan, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, through video conferencing, about the effective measures undertaken by the Government for prevention, containment and management of COVID-19 in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Lt Governor apprised the Union Minister about ‘Swasthya Nidhi’-an Integrated Health Audit & Intensive Screening Framework, an application that provides an ideal platform to reach out to each household in the UT.
A robust mechanism has been put in place for door to door survey, with 90% coverage under Swasthya Nidhi already done, for effectively combating the spread of COVID-19, he said, adding that emphasis was being laid on identifying vulnerable population including the elderly people and those with co-morbidities.
The Lt Governor further informed that RNA extractors have been procured by the UT Administration for enhancing testing capacity for COVID-19.
On testing, it was given out that J&K is among the highest States/UTs in terms of COVID testing per million population.
The Union Minister expressed satisfaction over the UT Administration’s efforts in mitigating the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in J&K. He also interacted with the Deputy Commissioners of Red Zone Districts of J&K and received their feedback on various aspects related to COVID-19 control efforts.
Non-COVID patient care efforts of the UT Administration also received an appreciation from the Union Health Minster.
On the sidelines of the video conferencing, the Lt Governor chaired a high level meeting to discuss the emerging situation in J&K and also took review of the comprehensive planning and rapid response mechanism being put in place to combat COVID-19.
Sh. BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Sh. Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner Health and Medical Education; Sh. Bhupinder Kumar, Mission Director, NHM J&K; Dr. Renu Sharma, Director Health Services, Jammu attended the meeting.
The Lt Governor directed the officers to involve local communities and community leaders during surveys, testing and contact tracing for confidence building among the people. He further directed for enhancing ICU beds in the Districts, wherever required.
The Lt Governor stressed on ensuring the protocols to be followed during the process of bringing the stranded people of J&K back to the UT, and also underlined the importance of compulsory testing of these people, as testing is the key in identifying the potential spreaders and combating COVID-19 pandemic.
He further asked the officers to continue putting in their strenuous efforts at all levels of the administration in fight against coronavirus and emphasized on close monitoring of all the preventive measures undertaken to ensure their proper implementation.