Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Farooq Khan, today inspected Health Institutions and Quarantine Centres in Rajouri district to assess the facilities being extended to the patients of COVID-19 there.Advisor inspected Quarantine centre at Boys Hostel PG College Rajouri and Girls Hostel PG College Rajouri besides isolation centres at GMC Rajouri.Advisor was accompanied by Deputy Commissioner Rajouri, Mohammad Nazir Sheikh, DIG Rajouri-Poonch Range, Vivek Gupta, Principal GMC, Kuldeep Singh, Senior Superintendent of Police Chandan Kholi, Additional Deputy Commissioner Rajouri Sher Singh, Assistant Commissioner Revenue, Mohd Ashraf, Additional Superintendent of Police Liaqat Choudhary, Medical Superintendent GMC, Dr. Raghuveer Singh and other officers of Health Department.Advisor Khan also interacted with the doctors and other paramedical staff to assess their requirements and problems being faced by them while tackling COVID-19 cases and those being quarantined in different designated places. He assured the Health workers that PPE kits would be provided to them besides other required equipments and material so that they perform their duties in a comfortable and safe environment.The Advisor also interacted with the quarantined persons and enquired about their well-being and facilities being provided to them. He asked the concerned authorities to ensure proper care and hygiene besides maintaining social distancing within the premises as per Standard Operating Procedures in place to deal with COVID-19 cases.Meanwhile, Advisor chaired a meeting held to review the arrangements being made by the district administration to prevent and contain the spread of the pandemic besides assessing the working of the health department and other essential services in the backdrop of COVID-19.
Deputy Commissioner briefed the meeting about the steps being taken up by the district administration regarding containment of COVID-19 and to mitigate the sufferings of the common masses on this account. He informed that district level management teams have been constituted to deal with COVID-19 in the district, which are working tirelessly 24/7. He said that fumigation and sanitization of all the public places with special focus on red zones is being ensured to combat the pandemic.Regarding institutions converted to Quarantine wards, DC informed that as many as 40 institutions with capacity of 5078 beds have been converted to Quarantine wards. He said that regular inspections of these centres are being carried out to check and monitor the facilities being provided to the patients there.During review of status of Coronavirus in the district, it was apprised that there were four COVID patients in the district, three have recovered while no case of death has been reported so far. Besides, 210 samples have been collected, of which, 128 have been tested negative while reports of 82 are awaited.DC informed that to encourage the people to reveal their travel history, Khoj website has been launched besides Epass service has been launched by the district administration to facilitate the patients and to ensure their convenience during lockdown. DC said that to keep a check on overpricing of the essential commodities, regular market checking is being done on a routine basis. He added the district administration has roped in scores of local entrepreneurs and SHGs for mass production of around 06 lakh reusable masks to contain the spread of COVID19 in the district.Regarding Arogya Setu app, DC informed that there are 28214 users of this app in the district.
Besides staff involved in the process of collecting data through Swasthaya Nidhi app are being trained and till date 36 number of master trainers have been trained.Advisor Khan appreciated the steps taken by the district administration Rajouri and applauded the role of police, civil society and Health Department and every Officer/official deployed for containment of COVID19. He asked the concerned officers to be always in a state of alertness and remain present at their headquarters so that timely response to any emergent situation can be ensured.He asked the concerned officers to identify the alternate traditional migration routes through which some persons enter the district so that the entry points can be strengthened and no person is allowed in the district without valid pass. He advised the officers to seek the cooperation of PRIs in tracing the persons with travel history.Khan directed the health department to make sample testing facilities available at SDH Nowshera and SDH Sunderbani to lessen burden on GMC Rajouri. He said that some people facing hardships due to lockdown might be hesitating to come forward to seek any help and the district administration should identify such people with the help of elected representatives in order to provide relief to them.He directed the DSWO to ensure transfer of pension in the account of beneficiaries whereas ALC was directed to ensure financial assistance to registered as well as non registered labourers. He asked AD Food to provide ration to all destitute and non ration card holder families under coordination with district administration. He also directed weekly checking of Bal Ashrams and Nari Niketans in the district.