Jammu & Kashmir will be provided all required assistance to combat the Corona challenge and the Union Health Ministry is taking cognizance of each and every requisition or requirement request sent by the Union Territory government of J&K. This was disclosed here today by Dr Jitendra Singh while speaking to the media after he took up the issue with the Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan along with a list of requirements submitted by the Govt. of Jammu & Kashmir. The Health Minister not only assured of full and adequate response but also assured of liberal assistance in the matter. Dr Jitendra Singh further informed that the collection of samples for Corona screening and test was being done at nine places in Jammu & Kashmir and allayed the apprehensions in certain quarters that such facility existed only at four places. He clarified that while the currently operational laboratories for Covid-19 testing, as notified by the ICMR, at present, are at four places, that is, Government College Jammu, Army Command Hospital Udhampur, Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences Srinagar and Government College Srinagar, but the collection of the samples was also being done at five other places, that is, Government Medical College Kathua, Government Medical College Doda, Government Medical College Rajouri, Government Medical College Anantnag and Government Medical College Baramulla. The general public should feel rest assured, said Dr Jitendra Singh, because they will never have any difficulty in getting themselves screened or tested for Coronavirus and moreover, the number of Collection Centres in a small territory like Jammu & Kashmir is, even today, higher than the number of such Centres in certain other territories of the country. However, if required, more of such Centres could be made available with the help of ICMR and Union Health Ministry, he added. Pertinent to mention here that during the meeting convened by Dr Jitendra Singh at Jammu on 21st of March to assess the preparedness and measures adopted by the Union Territory Government of Jammu & Kashmir to combat Covid-19, the Finance Commissioner (Health) Jammu & Kashmir Attal Dulloo had brought to the notice of Dr Jitendra Singh, a requisition prepared by him for certain requirements to be supplied with the intervention of Govt of India. These included PPE kits, sanitizers, viral transport kits, N90 masks, etc.
