JOIN USCOVID-19 throwing new challenges for authorities in Kashmir
With nearly 400 people testing positive for COVID-19 and eight deaths due to the deadly virus in a week, the coronavirus pandemic is throwing up new challenges for health authorities in Kashmir.
From doctors and paramedics to patients admitted to hospitals for routine procedures and from pregnant ladies to policemen, the fresh positive cases have worried health authorities, given the fact that the deadly virus curve had flattened in the previous two weeks.
On May 16 and 18, the region reported above 100 daily positive cases while on Thursday J&K saw 59 new cases of COVID-19, taking the total confirmed cases of viral illness to 1449 here.
Dr Muhammad Salim Khan, nodal officer for COVID-19, says people returning from outside J&K in recent days are testing positive for the infection which has led to a surge in the infection cases.
However, a doctor at Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar wishing anonymity said that Kashmir was staring at the COVID-19 peak. “The region has witnessed 20 deaths despite the fact that the health infrastructure has so-far not been overstretched. If positive cases continue to surge, the death rate would go up,” he told DH.
The doctors in Kashmir have been barred by the authorities to speak against the government’s efforts to combat the pandemic on social media, or to the press.
He said the death of three expecting mothers earlier this month in southern Kashmir’s Anantnag district is another worry. “More than a dozen pregnant ladies were tested positive for the infection on a single day on May 16. This is baffling,” the doctor added.
An official at the directorate of health services said at least 31 cases of pregnant women testing positive for coronavirus have been reported across the Valley. Most of them have visited hospitals, maximising chances of the spread of the infection.
Another worry for the authorities is medics and para-medics bearing the brunt of the novel disease. On May 18, five doctors tested positive for COVID-19 in Srinagar hospitals. Over a dozen doctors, three nurses and five healthcare workers have been infected with the virus in J&K so-far.
A senior medico at tertiary-care SKIMS hospital in Srinagar said J&K’s response to the pandemic would largely depend on the safety of doctors. “If we can’t protect our doctors, half the battle is already lost,” he said.
The doctor also criticized the decision-making role of bureaucrats in the fight against COIVID-19 pandemic. “Doctors and not bureaucrats should be part of the decision-making as far as management of COVID-19 patients is concerned. However, unfortunately, it is bureaucrats who are calling the shots,” he rued.
The other worry is policemen testing positive for COVID-19. While 78 positive cases were reported from district police lines in Anantnag this week another 21 were tested positive in neighbouring Kulgam district on Thursday.