Pandemic: Wellness centres a hope

The pandemic has been tightening its grip across Jammu and Kashmir in the last nearly two months, claiming over 1000 lives and also infecting about 30,000 people in the Union Territory. The pandemic has put a burden on the health department of J&K, who have been putting efforts to ensure all the facilities are in place to tackle the huge rush of the patients in the tertiary care and peripheral hospitals here. As the pandemic is still prevalent in J&K, the Union Territory has recorded first death due to ‘Black Fungus’ (mucormycosis), thus indicating the existence of the ‘Black Fungus’ here and subsequently putting further burden on the health department here. The government at this juncture has been putting efforts to come up with Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Covid care centres to tackle the rising patient rush. In such a situation, the Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) have been extending their support to the government and are going to start Covid wellness centres in Srinagar district in collaboration with the Srinagar Municipal Corporation (SMC) to accommodate the rush of the patients. The other districts too should start deliberating with the NGOs and come up with these centres so that all the patients are accommodated and treated well on time during the prevalent situation. As the situation is getting worse with each passing day, there is a need to increase the number of such wellness centres here so that the patients get immediate and necessary treatment.