Firdous Hassan
Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir administration has gone into overdrive to upgrade health infrastructure in a bid to deal with any exigency in the union territory.
For the last few days, Jammu and Kashmir is witnessing a surge in Covid cases. On Wednesday, Jammu and Kashmir recorded a 52 percent increase in the COVID cases in the last 24 hours. An official spokesman said the union territory logged 418 new cases.
Sensing trouble. Jammu and Kashmir has upgraded health infrastructure both at the division and district levels.
From ventilators to oxygen-supported beds and isolation beds, the healthcare institutions across the union territory have been kept ready to deal with any situation.
As per the data available with The Kashmir Monitor, the isolation bed capacity in hospitals and healthcare institutes has increased by over 100 percent in the last six months.
In May 2021, there were 8820 isolation beds, which the administration has increased to 19783 beds.
During the same period, the number of ICU beds has been doubled by the government. The number of ICU beds as per the official figures in May 2021 was 352, which has now been enhanced to 717 ICU beds.
Similarly, ventilators, which are essentially required for severe COVID patients too, have increased since the COVID-19 second wave hit Jammu and Kashmir.
In May 2021, Jammu and Kashmir had 757 ventilators, which has now increased to 1320.
The administration has also increased the number of oxygen-supported beds from 3987 in May to 5468 in December.
A top official said the administration had prioritized healthcare during the last six months to tackle the COVID-19 situation.
“While cases went down after the second wave, the administration increased the capacity of ICU beds, ventilators and oxygen supported beds in all its hospitals. We have right now adequate infrastructure in place to tackle any fresh wave of COVID-19. At the same time, it is essential for every citizen to follow COVID -19 appropriate behavior,” he said.
Pertinently, during the second wave, the health care institutions were overburdened as the daily caseload had gone up to 6000 per day in May.
Currently, the third wave of COVID-19 is looming large in many states including New Delhi, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. India reported 90,928 fresh COVID-19 on Thursday, over a 56 percent increase than the previous day.
To prevent the spread of the virus, Jammu and Kashmir administration Wednesday imposed restrictions in the union territory from 9 pm to 6 am.
