Despite odds, Udhampur tackles crisis after 1 death

Tribune News Service

Jammu, April 13

On April 8, the death of a bed-ridden woman, 63, from the Tikri area of Udhampur district due to Covid-19, created jitters in the administrative set-up, forcing the authorities to redouble their efforts. The authorities had somewhere managed to break the chain of infection to a considerable level by that time.

The woman’s death was the first Covid-19 casualty in the Jammu division. Eight persons, mostly family members, who had come in contact with the woman tested positive for the virus.

No need to panic

We are fully prepared to deal with any situation. We appeal to the people to stay inside and follow the government guidelines. There is no need of panic. — Dr KC Dogra, Udhampur Chief Medical Officer

The district administration’s aggressive contact tracing led to the identification of 106 contacts. Nearly 70 per cent of the contacts have been tested negative, while more contacts are being searched to completely break the chain.

As many as 19 persons, including the deceased woman, have tested positive in the district, which is nearly 40 per cent of the cases of the total 48 persons tested positive in the Jammu region so far. The administration has declared four red zones — Tikri, Ramnagar, Narsoo and Magani in the Garhi block of Udhampur. Four persons, who had tested positive, were discharged from the hospital on Monday after they recovered.

Three hospitals — District Hospital, Udhampur and Community Health Centres, Ramnagar and Chenani, have been designated to cater to the Covid patients, while a facility of around 1,500 beds has been created at the quarantine centres.

The administration has how planned to make 4 lakh masks and distribute these among the people in the next 10 days to further contain the spread of disease.

A close look at the spread of the coronvirus in Udhampur district reveals that the infected persons had either a travel history or had come in contacts with the persons tested positive. The hiding of travel history by some people, who had attended the Nizamuddin Markaz event in New Delhi, also remained a major challenge for the administration. The registration of FIRs against three such persons in Ramnagar, however, forced others to disclose their identity and 50 such persons have now been traced.

The district does not have isolation facilities and all 18 positive cases were shifted to GMCH, Jammu, which treats patients infected with the coronavirus. The district also does not have any ventilators.

Despite the infrastructural constraints, the better administrative management and coordination have paid dividends in the district, where the authorities have managed to break three particular chains — one each in Ramanagar, Narsoo and Magani.