 Early Times Report
jammu, Apr 11: Lieutenant Governor (LG), Girish Chandra Murmu today briefed the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, about the efforts of the UT Administration for management and containment of COVID-19 pandemic in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Prime Minister was interacting with Chief Ministers and heads of all States/UTs through video conferencing to review the efforts of the States/UTs to combat COVID-19.
The LG provided feedback to the PM about the COVID positive cases in J&K and steps taken by the UT Administration to maintain social distancing, ramp up healthcare infrastructure, mitigate difficulties of migrants and maintain supply of essentials.
LG informed the PM that there are 4 deaths and 224 positive cases in the UT, with 98% of the cases having travel history or contacts of the positive patients. In J&K, 5 districts are affected with coronavirus and 77 areas have been declared as Red Zones, he maintained.
He further informed that 16 dedicated COVID Hospitals with 208 ventilators, besides 2500 isolation beds, 25000 non hospital beds are available and 400 more ventilators are being procured. Further, about 5500 people are under home quarantine and 30,000 labourers are living in camps. Around 18,000 health care professionals; 30,000 police personnel and others have been trained, who are working towards the containment of the spread of coronavirus, he added.
The LG apprised the PM that the UT Administration has rolled out an effective mechanism and strenuous efforts are underway to reach out to the beneficiaries under various welfare schemes including 7 lakh farmers covered under Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN); 8 lakh account holders under PMJDY; 12.5 lakh families getting LPG, 7 lakh families being provided with ration and other benefits. Dedicated call centres have been established to assist the stranded labourers and students from and outside the UT, he added.
During the interaction, the Prime Minister observed that next 3-4 weeks are critical to determine impact of steps taken till now to curb spread of the virus and suggested specific measures for agriculture and allied sector. He also spoke about popularizing the 'Aarogya Setu' app to ensure downloads in greater numbers. Aarogya Setu app is an essential tool in our fight against COVID-19, which can subsequently act as e-pass to facilitate travel etc, he added.
Soon after the video conferencing, the LG chaired a meeting on COVID-19 control efforts and directed for effective implementation of restrictions in Red-Zones with aggressive and targeted testing to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam; DGP Dilbag Singh; Financial Commissioner Health and Medical Education Atal Dulloo; Principal Secretary to Government Home Department Shaleen Kabra and Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor Bipul Pathak attended the meeting. |
