Hospital occupancy at less than 4%, situation under control: Govt

JAMMU: Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba while chairing a high-level meeting on Saturday to review the public health response to Covid-19 asked all the States and Union Territories to closely monitor the trajectory of Covid infections to prevent surge in cases and assiduously expedite vaccination of priority groups.
J&K Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam along with Chief Secretaries of Chattishgarh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Telangana, and West Bengal participated in the meeting.
While reviewing the situation, the Cabinet Secretary informed that India is witnessing a resurgence of Covid cases with an average of 14,300 daily cases, marking an approximate 21% week-on-week increase in the new cases.
The Chief Secretary, J&K, informed that the Government of Jammu and Kashmir is conducting mandatory universal tests on all incoming travellers coming via roadways, railways, and airways. He informed that J&K saw a 40% surge in weekly cases with travellers contributing to 2/3rd of all the positive cases, adding that in Srinagar district alone 50% of recorded positive cases were travellers.
He said that through concerted efforts the government is consistently monitoring the Covid trajectory among its local population with a special focus on districts with an increased tourist footfall.
Regarding vaccination drives, it was informed that in J&K, 67% of healthcare workers and 59% of frontline workers have been vaccinated during the initial stages of the vaccine roll-out and arrangements are in place to incorporate the third prioritised group in the upcoming days.
Currently, the bed occupancy in the designated Covid hospitals in J&K is less than 4% with approximately 100 patients admitted to health care institutes that have been prepped to accommodate 3,000 patients. “In the given scenario, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is by and large comfortable and under control,” the Chief Secretary maintained.

KR Desk