Tasaduq Hussain
Kupwara, May 21: Of the eight available ventilators at Sub District Hospital (SDH) Kupwara in north Kashmir, not a single ventilator is functional or under use at the lone designated COVID-19 facility.
Meanwhile, the officials said that the positivity rate has declined by 4 percent since last week.
Sources said that eight ventilators are available at sub-district Hospital Kupwara but not a single one is functional due to the dearth of manpower to operate them.
They said that SDH Kupwara is presently the lone designated Covid facility in the border district where all the patients requiring treatment or oxygen support are admitted.
Figures available reveal that the district has reported a total of 28 deaths and reported a total of 2,283 cases between 1 to May 20 in the ensuing month taking the toll of cases to 10,012 with 1,840 active positive cases on Thursday.
A senior health official at District Hospital (DH) Handwara said that two portable ventilators are available but they are not usually used, rather mostly critically ill patients are shifted to Srinagar or Baramulla.
Admitting that no ventilator is functional at SDH Kupwara, Nodal officer for COVID-19 in Kupwara, Ghulam Nabi Sheikh said, “We do not have the manpower for operating the ventilators.”
In the scheduled press briefing Deputy Commissioner (DC) Kupwara Imam Din said that the positivity rate has declined from 15 percent to 11.50 percent while the recovery rate is also increasing.
“Enough vaccines will be made available. Sufficient oxygen is available and augmentation of SDH will be done and tests of outside laborers have been made mandatory,” Imam Din said.
He informed that the Army in Kupwara is preparing a 50 bedded COVID-19 hospital for the civilians and that it will be made functional soon for which they have requested some technicians from the health department.
“We have nearly 98 admissions at SDH Kupwara of which five have recovered and five patients have been admitted today. The situation is being monitored by the close coordination of civil, police, and health administration,” he said.
Notably, the border district Kupwara had reported a total of 10,012 cases of which 8042 have recovered while 130 have died of the infection.
