Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh today discussed steps to expedite the Corona sample testing procedure in Jammu & Kashmir. In an over one and half hour long meeting with senior officers of Jammu & Kashmir Health Department as well as Heads and faculty members of Government Medical Colleges and SKIMS, Dr Jitendra Singh emphasised the need to respond to the popular demand to make the Corona sample testing more time bound and to reassure the people offering their samples that they would not be subject to any unwarranted delay or inconvenience. He also appealed to the general public to be more forthright and accurate in entering their details like name, mobile number etc while filling up the form so that their report did not get delayed on account of mismatched information.

Through a power point presentation, Financial commissioner (Health) Atal Dulloo briefed the Minister about the current status of a number of tests being carried in each of the designated testing centres and the projected increase in the number of tests in the days to come. He said that having begun with about 100 samples per day, the number of samples has now gone to several thousand per day.

Atal Dulloo further informed that with the introduction of ICMR App since yesterday, it may be possible to maintain the time limit of around three days for the sample test report to be received. He also expressed satisfaction that with the centre's active support, now there is no shortage of PPE kits and N-95 face masks or sanitisers.

Dr Jitendra Singh insisted that with little more perseverance, it may be possible to further reduce the average time taken to get the test report received and also called for expeditious clearance of the backlog.

The issue of the facility at the quarantine centres also came up for discussion. Dr Jitendra Singh suggested that using their discretion and prudence, the local authorities should ensure that the standards of hygiene are adhered to during quarantine. He stressed on the need to frequently interact with public and respond to their inputs on various issues related to quarantine and Corona management.

While appreciating the Health authorities and medical fraternity, Dr Jitendra Singh observed that Jammu & Kashmir had fared better than many other States/Union Territories of the country and there was statistical evidence to testify this. He said, the doubling time in J&K is higher than the other States/UTs of the country and the number of tests being held every day has constantly stood among first three in the country.

Others who offered their views included Director SKIMS Dr Ayengar, Principal Government Medical College Srinagar, Dr Samia, Principal Government Medical College Jammu Dr N C Dingra, Director Health Srinagar and Director Health Jammu. Principals of other Government Medical Colleges and their faculty were also present during the meeting.

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VG/SNC