Member Parliament, Jamyang Tsering Namgyal reviewed the COVID-19 preparedness in Kargil during a meeting with the concerned officers on November 20 at Tourist Facilitation Centre, Kargil.

Deputy Commissioner and CEO, LAHDC, Kargil Baseer ul Haq Choudhary, Chief Medical Officer Kargil Dr. Munawar Hussain Wazir besides other concerned officers attended the meeting.

DC, Kargil briefed about the status of COVID-19 preparedness in terms of logistics, manpower, and other necessary facilities to deal with the pandemic.

It was informed that there are at present 100 oxygen beds with central heating facilities at the Dedicated COVID-19 Hospital and Under Construction 300 Bedded Hospital at Kurbathang which can be upgraded to 150 beds in case of need. Adding to that 30 ICU beds, 230 Mega Oxygen Cylinders, 100 B-type Oxygen Cylinders, 30 ICU ventilators, and 2 Transport Ventilators are also kept in complete readiness.

Regarding the laboratory facilities at the COVID-19 Laboratory Kargil, 1 Bio-Rad Machine, 1 Qia Symphony Automatic RNA Extractor, 1 BSL 2 Cabinet and 1 True Naat Machine are also available while in the case of Non-COVID laboratory facilities 1 CBC machine, 1 Sr Electrolyte Machine, 1 Fully Automatic Biochemistry Analyser, 1 Urine Analyser besides 1 Elisa Machine is also available.

A facility of 30 COVID-19 beds has been established in all the 7 medical blocks while the special provision of 1 Advanced Critical Care Ambulance, 100 mega cylinders, and 3 ICU ventilators has been set up at CHC Zanskar. Necessary measures for provision of central heating facilities are also being put in place, testing in case of some health facilities is underway which are expected to be made operational by the end of this month.

Jamyang Tsering Namgyal expressed his satisfaction with the overall arrangements and urged concerned officers and doctors to work with continued zeal and enthusiasm to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. He also appreciated the commendable services rendered by the District Administration Kargil particularly the Health Department for effective handling of the COVID-19 situation and also lauded the untiring efforts of all Corona Warriors.