COVID-19: Exclusive Interview of DC Pulwama, Baseer-ul-Haq Choudhary

PULWAMA — In an exclusive interview with The Kashmir Pulse about the emerging COVID-19 situation in the southern district of Kashmir, Deputy Commissioner Pulwama, Baseer-ul-Haq Choudhary said that all the necessary measures are being taken by the administration in order to check the surging spread of Coronavirus.

What else he said in the exclusive chat with Sakeena Jabeen? Read the excerpts of the interview captured by Umar Farooq to know.

SJ: What are the measures you’re going to take in order to curb the surge of COVID-19 apart from weekend curfew and closure of educational institutions?

DC Pulwama: Corona curfew is imposed till May 6. We will consider various other measures after assessing the situation. If we felt the need, then this lockdown will be extended and not a single violation will be tolerated.

SJ: In rural areas and in hospitals, people are seen tossing the SOP’s. How could this be checked?

DC Pulwama: In rural areas, people are busy with agricultural activities and usually, they work in a scattered manner, but in hospitals and other public places, its necessary to adhere to the SOPs. Even gatherings in open spaces must also follow the same and we are making sure no violation takes place. Besides, people need to be responsible and sole responsibility does not rest on the government.

SJ: What is the present status of facilities like bed capacity, oxygen concentrators etc?

DC Pulwama: There is no dearth of such facilities in the district and even District Hospital Pulwama has been listed as Covid dedicated hospital. The hospital can accommodate 200 beds and there is adequate oxygen supply, which is distributed to sub centres too in different parts of the district such as Pampore, Awantipora.

SJ: Government has already kick-started vaccination drive. However, there are rumours about the vaccine itself. How can people get schooled about the same?

DC Pulwama: Vaccines are safe. The rumours are totally baseless. There is 1% chance that a person can turn positive among 100 vaccinated. But the important thing is that even after vaccine, if you get infected, there is least chance of serious illness. So, people should get vaccinated at earliest and need not panic.

The DC Pulwama appealed people to follow SOPs, get vaccinated at earliest and play a responsible role to curb the infection of this deadly virus.