Lieutenant Governor, Girish Chandra Murmu today held a video conference to interact with Doctors and sought their valuable suggestions for better management and containment of COVID-19 pandemic in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.Deliberations were also held on various important aspects, including procurement of protective gears; increasing the testing capacity; awareness on COVID-19 by Medical experts etc, which are imperative for combating spread of the virus.Sh. Rajeev Rai Bhatnagar, Advisor to Lieutenant Governor; Sh. BVR Subrahmanyam, Chief Secretary; Sh. Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner Health and Medical Education; Sh. Bipul Pathak, Principal Secretary to Lieutenant Governor; HoDs ; Doctors and Medical experts participated in the deliberations.The Lt Governor called for sustained efforts across the board and escalating the preventive efforts to fight against Coronavirus effectively. He asked the Doctors and paramedics to ensure their safety while treating the patients and assured them that Administration would provide PPEs, N-95 Masks, gloves and other basic protective gears to the front-line warriors in the fight against the deadly virus. Measures are being taken to ensure availability of protective gears and critical equipments and more PPEs are being procured by the Government, but its use must be rationalized, he said.During the interaction, various suggestions were received on the measures to be taken while treating the patients ailing from diseases other than COVID.
The Lt Governor observed that the non-COVID patients also require the necessary attention and would not be neglected at any level. Necessary precautionary protocol would be followed during their treatment, as is being done for the treatment of COVID-patients. Isolated and segregated facilities should also be prepared for them as they and their attendants are also vulnerable to the virus, the Lt Governor advised the Doctors.Suggestion was also solicited on spreading awareness on COVID-19 by Doctors and Medical experts. The Lt Governor observed that utilization of potent communication tools like social media, print and electronic media by the experts is vital to spread awareness and educate the masses regarding the pandemic.The Government has earlier also roped in the religious leaders for message to the people, besides the routine official announcements regarding various advisories and other aspects, which is showing encouraging results on ground to stop the religious gatherings, he maintained.The Doctors also sought the Government’s nod to procure the protective gears locally, on which, the Lt Governor asked the Doctors to go ahead with the local procurement of masks and other protective gears but only after certifying their efficacy and authenticity. He further said that the issue pertaining to the accommodation of resident doctors would also be looked into.While interacting with the Principal, Government Medical College Kathua, the Lt Governor observed that being at the entry point of the UT, their role has become very crucial and further asked him to take all the preemptive measures to contain the virus.