Corona Curfew Extended, 10 Oxygen Plants to be Set Up Soon: J&K Tightens Covid Measures

Amid surge in coronavirus cases in Jammu and Kashmir, the administration on Sunday extended the curfew imposed across 20 districts till May 17. “Corona Curfew imposed in all 20 districts of J&K till 7 am on Monday, May 10, is extended further by seven days till 7 am on Monday, May 17,” an official notice said. The curfew will be strict except for a few essential services,

The government also capped the permissible number of guests at a wedding to 25, from the previous 50 guests, with effect from Sunday itself.

An official spokesman said that these decisions were taken during a high-level meeting of the Covid task force chaired by Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha after a detailed assessment of the district-wise Covid scenario and containment measures required to control the spread of the deadly virus.Ten additional oxygen generation plants will soon be set up in J&K with the intervention of the central government, the official said. “The Lt Governor asked the concerned functionaries to prioritize the completion of all civil and other auxiliary works so that early functioning of these oxygen plants can be ensured,” the spokesman said.

He said that most of the big Covid care government hospitals in J&K now have their own oxygen generation plants. The upcoming oxygen plants will add to the capacity of oxygen in the UT.

In order to break the chain of transmission of the virus, it was decided that 50 per cent of staff in government departments would attend offices as per duty rosters and their movement would be strictly through passes during the curfew.

A decision was also taken to establish two more triage centers, one each in both the divisions to facilitate Covid patients. “While noting that early diagnosis of the infection has a better survival rate, the Lt Governor asked the Health Department to intensify the testing so that affected patients can be identified and treated accordingly. He called for communication with the public for cooperation and further directed for focusing on vulnerable groups for testing and vaccination”, the spokesman said.He said that the Lt Governor asked the divisional commissioners to extensively conduct house-to-house screening and Covid-19 status verification for identifying the vulnerable population through dedicated teams at the local level.Emphasising on optimum utilization of technological interventions and reaching out to the people with medical facilities through tele-medicine, the Lt Governor directed officers to ensure that tele-medicine facility is available for public in medical colleges and other tertiary care hospitals.

A comparative analysis was also done during the meeting to get a clear picture of the District-wise level of Transmission rate registered during pre-corona curfew and corona curfew days. It was noted that the restrictions have yielded some favourable results in containing the spread of coronavirus, especially at the community level.The police department was directed to ensure strict enforcement of restrictions in areas with a high number of positive cases.

The Lt Governor also took an overview of the progress being made for establishing the 500-bedded Covid facility, one each in Srinagar and Jammu by DRDO team, besides enhancing the capacity of Covid care facilities by the Army.

News 18