Srinagar: Amid the assurances by Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha that people should not panic as his administration was well equipped to tackle the exigency in hospitals, the crisis is becoming visible. People of Jammu & Kashmir are taking to social media platforms to narrate myriad woes related to the shortage of vital medical supplies and beds in the Covid-19 designated hospitals of the valley.
The administration has imposed an 84-hour long Covid-curfew in 11 districts of Jammu and Kashmir along with the Srinagar city, and this spell of curfew will end on Monday.
As the Covid-19 cases are surging persistently, the officials have not ruled out either extending the lockdown or imposing such spells in the future.
Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kashmir range, Vijay Kumar told the media that strict instructions have been given to the police units deployed on the ground to ensure hassle-free movement of healthcare workers, media persons, and essential services during the lockdown.
Expressing concern about the growing number of positive cases in Srinagar city, the government has also imposed section 144 in containment zones.
Earlier, Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha said that the availability of oxygen was double than the present requirement.
“The availability of oxygen is more than double the requirement. We have 54,500 cubic metres of oxygen against the present consumption of 25,000 cubic metres. Besides, 15,000 cubic metres more will be added in the coming days,” the Lt Governor said.
Moreover, he said they were equipped to deal with the emerging situation and over 10 million doses have been ordered for vaccination of people in the 18-45 age group.
A senior healthcare official stated that the present consumption of oxygen in the hospitals is around 25,000 cubic meters, while they have 54,500 cubic meters at their disposal.
Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha has recently ordered the enhancement of oxygen generation in various plants and the healthcare authorities have claimed that they will generate additional 15,000 cubic meters of oxygen.
Despite all these assurances, ambulance sirens in the localities of Jammu and Kashmir are making people scared. In the past few days, the number of Covid-19 related fatalities has seen a sudden spurt. In April, nearly 45,123 people have tested found positive in J&K, out of the 12,16,934 tested, an analysis of J&K’s official data on the pandemic reveals. The last two weeks of April saw the worse spread of the Covid-19 infection. Between 15 and 30 April, 33,206 people tested positive for Covid-19. In contrast, March just recorded 4,519 cases. The number of people succumbing to Covid-19 has gone up to 2308 in J&K—905 in Jammu and 1403 in Kashmir.