AJK president examines coronavirus response arrangements

He appreciated district Poonch's administration, police, doctors and paramedical staff for their untiring efforts.

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood visited Rawalakot on Monday to examine the strategy and review the arrangements made to respond to the coronavirus outbreak.

Speaking during a briefing given by Commissioner Poonch Division Abdul Hameed Mughal at the Circuit House, the state president appreciated the district's administration, police, doctors, nurses and paramedical staff for their untiring efforts.

He lauded their cooperation with Ulema and the public, to respond to the pandemic and involving philanthropists and other well-off people to provide relief to vulnerable communities.

The President expressed pleasure that the entire division had not recorded a single death from the virus so far, and that no patient currently fighting the virus was in a serious condition.



“This is proof of the hectic efforts made by all the stakeholders, including the administration and health department, to contain the pandemic,” said commissioner Poonch, while addressing the briefing earlier.

He said that in the light of the government's guidelines issued after the outbreak of coronavirus, public and private buildings, mostly guesthouses were acquired, and turned into quarantine centres for 139 people in the district, 132 in Bagh district, 42 in Sadhnoti district and 36 in Haveli district.

The commissioner added that about 20,000 face masks and 35 Personal Protection Equipment (PPEs) provided by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) were distributed among the doctors, nurses and paramedical staff.

“Only 12 of 226 suspected patients were tested positive in Poonch district, two of 167 were found positive in Bagh and 10 of 120 in Sadhnoti, while no one from among the eight patients in Haveli  tested positive,” Commissioner Mughal observed.

He further said that more than Rs450 million had been disbursed so far among 37,248 people under the Ehsas Emergency Cash Relief Program. Sufficient quantity of food items and petroleum products in were also disbursed to students in the four districts.

Deputy Inspector General Police Sardar Rashid Naeem, Director General Health Dr Sardar Aftab Khan, Deputy Commissioner Poonch Arshad Mehmood Jaral, Senior Superintendent of Police Chaudhery Zulqurnain and other officials were also present on the occasion.

Later in a briefing during a visit to CMH Rawalpindi, Deputy Commanding Officer Lieutenant Colonel Ali Akhtar told the AJK president that right after the virus broke out, all necessary arrangements were made to establish a separate ward for potential patients.

The staff was also trained on how to handle patients, whereas availability of medical equipment was also ensured, he said. The PCR machine required to conduct tests of patients was also made available in the hospital in the second week of April.



“CMH Rawalakot with the cooperation of the World Health Organization and National Institute of Health, Islamabad had taken a number of steps to train doctors and paramedical staff as well as the laboratory staff of hospitals,” stated Lt Col Akhtar.

While expressing satisfaction over preparations and arrangements made at CMH Rawalakot, the AJK president expressed gratitude to the commanding officer.

Later, the state president visited different parts of the hospital and inquired about the health of patients.