Authorities swung into action after 16 MBBS students, six of them females, of the Government Medical College (GMC) Doda have tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
Deputy Commissioners (DCs) of all the 20 districts have been directed to strictly adopt the COVID Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) to ensure a check on the spread of the deadly virus. All DCs have been directed to intensify COVID testing in their respective districts.
Doda district in the Jammu region reported a fresh spike with 28 new COVID positive cases, including 16 MBBS students of Government Medical College (GMC) Doda, a former Deputy Commissioner, and one serving JKAS officer.
Twelve members of three-four families, all relatives, also tested positive for the virus in Doda. They include Ghulam Nabi Balwan, former Deputy Commissioner, and Assistant Commissioner (Revenue) Kishtwar Akhter Qazi, a JKAS officer.
126 new positive cases in J&K
The J&K Government on Wednesday informed that 126 new positive cases of Coronavirus, of which 26 from the Jammu division and 100 from Kashmir province, were reported during the last 24 hours, thus taking the total number of positive cases in J&K to 3,24,546. Also, one COVID death has been reported from the Kashmir division.
Moreover, 103 more COVID-19 patients have recovered and been discharged from various hospitals including 24 from the Jammu division and 79 from Kashmir province. Besides this, 63.58 percent of the population above the age of 18 years has been vaccinated across J&K.
According to data shared by the government out of 3,24,546 positive cases, 1,078 are active positive, 3,19,064 have recovered and 4,404 have died - 2,163 in the Jammu division and 2,241 in Kashmir province.
To date, 31,53,917 persons have been enlisted for observation which included 8,494 persons in-home quarantine including facilities operated by the government, 1.078 in isolation, and 4,35,416 in-home surveillance. Besides, 27,04,525 persons have completed their surveillance period.
Functioning of health department reviewed
Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Health and Medical Education, Vivek Bhardwaj, on Wednesday chaired a review meeting regarding working and performance of National Health Mission Jammu and Kashmir in the UT.
ACS enquired from the officers about their role and responsibility besides their mode of work. He appreciated the role of NHM in improving various indicators related to healthcare in the Union Territory and assured complete support to the department in its endeavors towards strengthening the existing system.
The meeting reviewed progress on implementation of Emergency COVID Response Package ECRP-II in the UT with all details of activities approved under the programme. It was informed that an amount of Rs 211.03 crore has been approved under ECRP- II for COVID essential diagnostics and drugs, ramping up health infrastructure with a focus on Paediatric care units, enhancement of human resources for health, IT interventions, hospital management information system and teleconsultation, capacity building and training components.
