Emphasizing the urgency of adequate preventive measures on war footing to stop the fast spreading corona virus in J&K, Mr. Harsh Dev Singh JKNPP Chairman and former Minister said that the present initiative of the govt was grossly inadequate to deal with the high velocity deadly pandemic. He said that massive increase in the number of suspects from mere 2 last week to 669 as on yesterday amply indicated the lethal ferocity of the deadly virus and its potential to explode in a big way. He lampooned the govt for its criminal apathy in allowing the virus to spread posing serious threat to precious lives in view of the deadly nature of the pandemic. Negligence imperiling public health is also a criminal offence, observed Singh. He was addressing a press conference in Jammu today.
Despite tall announcements of the govt for medical tests of all passengers from affected countries and their quarantining and isolation till they were declared safe, the authorities of GMC had allowed the suspects to move out thereby threatening the very safety and security of general masses in Jammu and its vicinity, regretted Singh. It was criminal on the part of the authorities concerned to enlarge the suspects inspite of their travel history from Iran and Saudi Arabia thereby posing threats of possible outbreak of the deadly disease in the region, said Singh.
Likewise, Mr. Singh said, the testing facilities should be introduced atleast in all District hospitals so that all suspected cases could be screened well in time. He said that DMs should issue orders under Epidemic Diseases Act for making travel history public by all those travelling abroad and for voluntary declarations by the people having symptoms of the disease. Non observance to the said orders should be treated as offence punishable under sec 188 IPC (disobedience to an order promulgated by a public servant). He said that Lt Governor and other bureaucrats should give up their trade promotion campaigns outside the UT and rather focus on preventing the outbreak of the killer pandemic in the UT.
Urging upon the state Lt Governor to personally intervene so as to ensure provision of lab facilities, investigative kits besides other requisite steps for arresting the spread of the killer virus, he said that workshops should also be organized to bring awareness amongst the people of the state about the symptoms of the disease. He said that publicity campaigns need to be launched on war footing to promote precautionary measures like reporting to Hospitals any symptoms of high fever, sneezing cough, difficulty in breathing and body pains. He said that screening of all common flu patients is also necessary as any of them could be testing positive for this virus. He fully endorsed the demand made by Doctors Association of J&K who have sought protection while dealing with the suspected cases. He urged upon the Lt Governor to provide Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) which included N-95 masks, goggles, caps, gloves and shoe covers besides chemo-prophylaxis as demanded in view of high risks involved in contracting the deadly virus.
Mr. Surinder Chouhan District President Jammu (Rural) of JKNPP and Mr. Gurdeep Singh were also present in the press conference.