Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Thursday expressed concern over the snow balling of COVID-19 into mammoth crises, saying the administration has turned its back on the exigencies that have cropped up in wake of the increased number of infections and mortality.
In a statement issued here, Party’s senior leader and Member of Parliament from Baramulla Muhammad Akbar Lone said the increasing rate of mortality and COVID-19 contamination reveals the failure of the present regime to deal with the crises.
“Had the ruling regime in J&K come up with a well thought out strategy to cope up with the prevailing crises, the situation would not have become as dire as it is now. We see how in a well-organized manner various state governments across the country made ample arrangements in form of creating makeshift hospitals, extra testing facilities, availability of ventilators to cope up with the viral sprawl. Unfortunately big shots in the administration kept themselves confined to Jammu until June, leaving the people in the valley to fend for themselves. Regrettably the administration also failed to scale up the existing infrastructure in hospitals by augmenting existing bed strength and other life saving equipment,” he said.
Expressing dismay over the scarcity of beds in hospitals, Lone said, “There aren’t enough beds in hospitals; everybody cannot afford to admit his kith and kin in private nursing homes. With the number of cases rising every day, the strain on the health care infrastructure in J&K, especially Kashmir has begun to show up. Attendants, patients are now coming out equivocally and expressing their anger about not being able to find hospital beds, proper treatment for themselves, their family and friends. Hospitals are also short of human resources to deal with the increasing rush. Non-Covid patients are not being segregated from the infected. The macro and micro management of incoming rush and COVID-19 protocol in hospitals has gone for a toss. No measures are being taken to manage the over load in tertiary and secondary hospitals; improving testing and documentation; diagnosis and care without risking the safety of patients and healthcare.”
“Administration is selling failed lockdown as a success, the idea behind the lockdown was to flatten the curve of COVID-19 infection, and the administration has failed to achieve that end. It is needless to say that the present regime in J&K has failed to follow the “trace, test and treat” norm of the world health organization.
