Jammu, Jan 28 (IANS): Authorities on Tuesday announced a slew of steps to check suspected coronavirus cases in Jammu as well as in Kashmir, including screening at airports for passengers arriving from China, Nepal and countries that had confirmed cases of the disease.
As part of an action plan to prevent the spread of the deadly virus, control rooms will come up in State Surveillance Offices in Srinagar and Jammu, suspected patients quarantined, apart from advisories to all districts and public awareness announcements at railways stations and airports.
Decisions in this regard were taken during a meeting chaired by Health and Medical Education Department Financial Commissioner Atal Dulloo to discuss the action plan to check coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir.
The officer said that steps are being taken to identify passengers with symptoms of the disease and directed officers to make arrangements to isolate suspected patients during treatment.
An advisory will be issued to all Deputy Commissioners to step up preparedness to tackle suspect cases, designate rapid response teams, enhance surveillance and capacity of laboratory diagnosis, and earmark isolation wards.
Isolation wards will be set up in government medical colleges in Jammu and Srinagar, the Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), Soura, and other districts, where special teams of doctors and paramedics will be constituted and trained accordingly.
Directions were issued for activating Multi-disciplinary Research Units (MRUs) in the government medical colleges in Jammu and Srinagar and for samples of suspected cases to be drawn immediately and sent to National Institute of Virology, Pune, for diagnostic tests.
The officer also directed for implementing an Information Education and Communication (IEC) strategy to educate the public on preventive measures against the disease.
Dulloo also directed for spreading mass awareness on coronavirus through the print and electronic media, and hoardings at prominent public places to help detect patients who complained of fever, cough, among others.
The authorities plan to distribute pamphlets to tourists arriving from places that have reported coronavirus cases.
An awareness campaign on personal hygiene, screening and detection of suspect cases at the community level will be started through ASHA workers.
Dulloo directed officers concerned that a sizable inventory of personal protection equipment, N-95 masks and other logistical arrangements be put in place along with buffer stocks to tackle the situation arising from the coronavirus scare.