Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir National Conference on Saturday expressed concern over the snowballing of new COVID-19 infections in Kashmir as worrying, 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 joint statement, Party’s MPs Muhammad Akbar Lone and Hasnain Masoodi said that the administration has failed to learn lessons from the first wave of COVID-19 to improve its response to the emerging new COVID-19 peak in Kashmir. They stated that people are yet to tide over the rampage induced by COVID-19 and the subsequent failed lock-downs.
“Unfortunately, the government has been yet again caught napping on the issue. Had the ruling regime in J&K come up with a well-thought-out strategy to cope up with the crises by learning from its past failures, 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 have made ample arrangements in the form of creating makeshift hospitals, extra testing facilities, and speeding up vaccination to cope up with the viral sprawl. Unfortunately the big shots in the administration are not available on the ground in Kashmir as the government has decided not to shift Darbar move offices this year also. Regrettably, the administration also failed to scale up the existing infrastructure in hospitals and augment existing bed strength and other live-saving equipment,” they said.
Expressing dismay over the scarcity of beds in hospitals, they said, “There aren’t any free 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 free hospital beds, proper treatment for themselves, their family and friends. Hospitals are also short of human resources to deal with the increasing rush. We hear of healthy patients not being segregated from COVID-19 affected ones. The macro and micromanagement of incoming rush and COVID-19 protocol in hospitals has gone for a toss. No measures are being taken to manage the overload in tertiary and district hospitals; improving testing and documentation; diagnosis and care without risking the safety of patients and healthcare,” they added.
The administration is selling the failed lockdown of 2020 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. It seems that the administration has given in; it is only busy in photo-ops and shoddy PR. The response of the JK administration to COVID-19 crises presents a grimy tale of shortfalls and mistakes. The whataboutery of the civil administration is only adding to the miseries of people,” they said.
