Provincial President of the National Conference, Devender Singh Rana, on Saturday called for a medical emergency declaration in Jammu in light of the increasing cases of Covid-19 and inadequate infrastructure facilities to address the crisis-like situation.
“The general scene is quite bleak and there is no room for complacency. It can prove catastrophic unless an emergent and proactive response is taken to save precious lives, ”Rana said in a statement.
Rana referred to reports in which patients cannot find beds for treatment or need oxygen and ventilators. She said the government should have anticipated such a situation and taken the necessary steps to increase bed capacity by allocating the maximum number of beds available in each hospital. Private hospitals and nursing homes should have been cordoned off, in addition to establishing a hospital with at least 1,000 beds, Rana said, giving the example of such a facility created by the Punjab government.
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While praising frontline warriors for risking their lives doing their best to deal with Covid-19 cases, he criticized the “poor infrastructure support” in Jammu. Rana again drew the administration’s attention to the bed shortage, questioning how only 608 beds out of the total capacity of 2,637 beds at Government Medical College and associated hospitals in the city of Jammu will meet Covid patient requirements. -19.
The situation is even worse in semi-urban, urban and rural areas, he noted, adding that oxygen availability is very poor and dysfunctional ventilators are adding more to the concern, he added.
Rana called for the immediate installation of a liquid oxygen plant, an oxygen generation plant and other plants in various hospitals as well as similar facilities in various hospitals at the district level to serve the needs of peripheral health institutions.
Rana reiterated the need to deploy senior officers to monitor the situation that appears to be out of control. “We must take note of this to instill confidence in people who are concerned when they see the lamentable situation of health facilities,” he added.
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