Lt Governor launches Covid-19 helpline in Srinagar

SRINAGAR: A group of 16 Kashmiri students kept under quarantine in Amritsar after returning from their respective educational institutes in Pakistan — which has closed down all such facilities till May 31 in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak — finally reached Srinagar on Friday. The students, mostly girls from Kashmir Valley, were sent to their native places after they tested negative for the Covid-19 infection.At least 30 students, mainly from north Kashmir and Srinagar, are pursuing various vocations including medicine and engineering in Pakistani colleges. They usually go there on the recommendation of the Hurriyat leaders and some through SAARC student exchange programs.When Pakistan closed down all educational institutions till May 31, these students rushed to come back to India but got held-up at the International Border at Wagah for two days (March 19-20) with Pakistani troops telling them that the Indian government hadn’t given them permission to let the students cross the border.The students’ parents, meanwhile, approached the external affairs ministry in a bid to expedite the process of their wards’ safe return following which the students were allowed to cross over to Punjab In order to curb the spread of the virus, the J&K administration didn’t allow the students to immediately return to the Union Territory and asked Punjab to quarantine them as Covid-19 suspects for the SOP-prescribed period before sending them home.The students were kept in isolation for the required number of days before allowing to return to Srinagar. While a group of 14 arrived here earlier, this 16-member-group that reached Srinagar on Friday was the last one to arrive, an official said. “We sent off the students, mostly girls from north Kashmir districts, home in a special bus because of the lockdown,” Srinagar additional deputy commissioner Hanief Balki said.J&K Lieutenant Governor Girish Chandra Murmu e-launched the ‘Srinagar Covid-19 Call Centre (Emergency Response and Management Centre)’ and ‘Web & Mobile Applications for Real-Time Integrated Covid-19 Management System’ on Friday.The call centre and the real-time integrated management system has been established by the Srinagar district administration for comprehensive and seamless exchange of information about the pandemic and to offer effective and timely assistance to those in need of the same, Srinagar deputy commissioner Dr Shahid Iqbal Chaudhary said.The emergency response and management centre involves — redressal mechanism, emergency response, integrated helplines, essential services, healthcare and counselling on all coronavirus matters, besides inter-sectoral Covid-control coordination like surveillance, sampling, quarantine, patient care and counselling, hospital management integrated covid response and red zone management.Meanwhile, the real-time integrated Covid-19 management system has been developed to monitor all operations of the quarantine and isolation centres from the district control room, thus enabling senior officials to make quick decisions based on real-time data received from these centres. The application also manages all information about quarantined people admitted and tracks their activities such as travel, contact history, health checkup, test status, sanitation and other facilities, completion of quarantine period besides shifting and monitoring during one’s home quarantine, the DC added.