Army men step up battle against ‘invisible enemy’

Our Correspondent
Udhampur, March 26

The Army’s efforts towards the fight against Covid-19 have gained momentum in the UT of J&K and Ladakh considering that the pandemic has entered its sensitive phase.

Surveillance and control measures have been put in place and a number of innovative awareness programmes are being run by field formations and units for the benefit of the people, particularly in rural areas, advisories by medical specialists on identification and precaution against the disease has been issued to all in text and audio visual formats.

Army personnel are being motivated to share the information with their families, friends and civil population in the area of their deployment.

At the unit level, a dynamic and judicious approach has been adopted by all ranks of the Army. A number of measures are being taken by IA to prevent the pandemic among its personnel so that the Army personnel are available to do their primary task and support the people in the fight against Covid. Troops returning from leave or out-station duties directly report to the screening centre established at various transit camps. After the medical screening they are being quarantined for 14 days in the quarantine room established in the units. In the barracks to avoid congestion, distance between the beds has been increased, to avoid crowding in dining halls, meals are served at staggered timings, social distancing is being maintained and adequate hand-washing points are in place.

A total of 17 helplines in the the two UTs for the people have been established by the troops of the Northern Command. The mobile vehicle check posts that are usually deployed for counter terrorist operations are educating the population on Covid-19 by way of audio broadcasts through loudspeakers. While the aim of reinforcing the seriousness with regard to the preventive measures against the disease is being achieved, The Army personnel are ensuring their own safety through a series of precautions laid down in the protocol. Critical aspects such as social distancing, hand hygiene and use of face masks are being maintained, posters and banners are also being pasted at multiple places in in Urdu, Hindi and English.

Multiple advisories on social media, including audio and video content has been posted using the Twitter handle of the Northern Command and the same can be accessed by the people. It is reiterated that the firm commitment of the Northern Command in taking this fight forward is very well expressed in the newly coined mission “Corona mukt awam”.

The Northern Command stands shoulder to shoulder with the Civil Administration of the UTs of J&K and Ladakh in these testing times. The Army as an organisation are proactively taking all measures. Drills have been set in, which is the most important factor in containing the virus and in preventing any incident of Covid.

Should there be a situation to extend facilities to the civil administration, medical personnel and units are building their capacities, non-medical personnel are being taught to actively contribute to the care of patients and effort is being made to enhance equipment holdings.