Srinagar, Mar 31: As the number of COVID-19 positive cases is increasing with each passing day, focus of the people is shifting towards the healthcare facilities that are available in the Valley to deal with the crisis.
During the past few days reports pouring in from different hospitals across Kashmir have not been that encouraging. Allegations about people facing hardships in quarantine and patients not receiving proper care have added to the anxiety of the masses.
“It looks like that the hospitals in Kashmir are not that well equipped. This uncertainty has to end. Doctors and experts are assuring people that they need not worry as the survival rate among the COVID-19 patients is very high and anyone who catches this infection doesn’t mean that he will die,” an analyst told Precious Kashmir.
It’s in place to mention here that on Monday Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu directed the administration to distribute protective gear and masks among the medicos, who are at the forefront of fighting the war against Coronavirus pandemic. “Doctors and other members of the medical fraternity have to be protected at any cost. They are leading from the front to save the patients. People who have not disclosed their travel history till now should come forward to prevent this virus from spreading into the community,” the analyst added.
Audio clips of people who have been placed under quarantine are making rounds on social media. In one of the audio clips a COVID-19 suspect hailing from Charar-e-Sharief town is heard crying and telling the man on the otherside that he doesn’t want to stay in a hospital as there are no facilities. He is heard saying that wards they have been kept in are not clean and there is a common washroom for more than 12 patients.
Mother of two kids–who tested COVID-19 positive—was quoted in a Facebook post alleging that her minor kids have been kept with adult positive cases at the JLNM hospital. However, later the administration of the JLNM hospital denied the allegations and claimed that the mother of two kids has been provided the protective gear.
An observer said, “Jammu and Kashmir administration will have to devise a proper mechanism to handle the COVID-19 positive cases and suspects. People remaining asymptomatic till the last stage is making things difficult for the medicos. It’s a big challenge and it needs to be dealt with patience and care.”
