Advisor Baseer Khan Visits Sopore; Met Several Stakeholders to Review COVID-19 Mitigation Measures

Combating COVID-19 Needs Coordinated, Joint Effort: says Advisor
 
Baramulla (Sopore), May 20: Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Baseer Ahmad Khan today visited Sopore town of the Baramulla district where he chaired a meeting with various stakeholders to discuss necessary COVID-19 mitigation means and measures.
 
On the occasion, a detailed discussion was held wherein the stakeholders comprising of PRIs, religious heads, transporters, traders among other prominent sections of the society presented their feedbacks and suggestions with regard to the issue.
 
The Advisor while deliberating upon the COVID pandemic and its ramifications said that the fight against COVID-19 is a joint effort between the administration and the community members. He sought cooperation from all stakeholders at all levels in order to tackle the pandemic effectively. He said that the government is working unrelentingly to deal with the situation in the best possible way and the cooperation of people from all the sections is required at this hour of crises. He added that religious heads and PRIs enjoy a respectable position in the society and they have a responsibility of disseminating the right information about the SOP’s and protocols to be followed in order to avert any unforeseen crisis.  
 
“The efforts of the government need to be complemented with the cooperation of the community and in this endeavor the role of the stakeholders like Traders, Hoteliers, transporters, religious leaders has become more important and crucial”, the advisor said. 
 
Emphasizing upon the need to disseminate the right information, the Advisor said that right education to be percolated among the masses about dealing with the pandemic is very important. He asked the religious leaders that people should be made aware through 164 mosques in Sopore, five times daily. He also added that there is no shortage of oxygen, vaccines, drugs or other medical infrastructure. 
 
The Advisor also said that the Lieutenant Governor is taking day to day review of the COVID-19 situation and is personally monitoring the performance of each department. The Advisor said the decision taken by the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor regarding 5-bed Panchayats is unique in itself and shall help a lot at the grass root level. This novel concept will have far-reaching implications and shall redress medical issues at the panchayat level itself. The admisntration in this way is reaching to the door step of patients. Also the initiative taken by the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor regarding reinforcement of Tele-medication at each level will go a long way. He stressed upon the importance of Tele-medication and said that this is being provided to the patients through Tele-consultations. The advisor sought the status of tele-medication and the call centers working in the district Baramulla. The Deputy Commissioner informed that 24×7 helpline is already functional and around 400 calls are being received daily. The Deputy Commissioner informed the chair that a team of dedicated doctors attend the calls and give consultations over the phone which has reduced the influx of patients to the health care centers.
 
The Advisor was informed that at present two new oxygen plants have been commissioned at the district head quarters. At present 400 oxygenated beds have been kept ready, Also, for the first time ICU facility has been established in North Kashmir with five ventilators in place and more than 100 concentrators have been received and put to use.
 
The Advisor stressed on the need of vaccination and said that abundant vaccines have arrived and the administration should aggressively pursue the vaccination drive. He was informed that 2.5 lakh people have already been vaccinated in the district. The Deputy Commissioner further informed that 259 dedicated teams have been deployed for the purpose of aggressive vaccination.
 
The Advisor took the review of the testing through RAT and RTPCR. He was informed that around 3000 RAT tests are conducted everyday and around 1000 that of RTPCR.
 
The visiting delegations and the representatives of the traders, transporters and religious leaders expressed their gratitude to the Advisor for his keenness to reach to every corner of the valley to have the actual feel of situation and for his efforts to mitigate the problems of people on the spot. They thanked the Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor also for his sincere efforts to resolve the crises in these trying times.