Minister Pijush Hazarika reviews COVID-19 situation of Cachar district

SILCHAR: Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare, Pijush Hazarika reviewed the COVID-19 situation with representatives of different political parties and officials of district administration here on Wednesday.

Explaining the objective of the meeting, Cachar Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli said the meeting has been convened to discuss ways and means of ramping up the health infrastructure and tackling the COVID-19 pandemic situation in the district and the way forward. The Deputy Commissioner said the views and opinions would go a long way in improving treatment of COVID-19 afflicted persons and in increasing the bed strength in ICU.

Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Hazarika said that at the instruction of Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr.Himanta Biswa Sarma, he had brought with him a team of doctors from Gauhati Medical College and Hospital who would make an assessment of the existing infrastructure at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital and what new services can be added to improve the medical care and treatment at the hospital. He said the medical team had already held discussions with the SMC&H authorities and inspected the COVID-19 isolation wards. Hazarika pointed out that as per the directive of ICMR, a COVID-19 patient have to be identified and isolated to arrest the spread of the disease. He said that scores of COVID-19 deaths have occurred in the past two months and 22 of them succumbed to the disease just moments on reaching hospitals.

Attributing the rise in deaths, Hazarika said, "The rushing of COVID positive patients to hospitals for treatment at the last stage have contributed to the overall death rate." Urging people to come to hospitals immediately in the event they develop COVID-19 symptoms, Hazarika said, "The disease is a dangerous one with even youths succumbing to it. No one should take it lightly under any circumstances."

Hazarika said that if a COVID-19 patient comes to hospital at the right time, he or she can be treated with plasma therapy which is working wonders and other means of treatment. The Minister said that with the spike in number of COVID cases, problems have cropped up in ICU and that steps are being initiated in right earnest to enhance the bed capacity in the ICU to at least 14 numbers in the next 10-12 days.

Hazarika made an impassioned plea to the people to wear mask or face cover, to maintain social distancing and to adhere strictly to the COVID-19 protocols to keep the disease at bay and urged the representatives of political parties to step up awareness among the people.

District BJP president, Kaushik Rai asked the administration to take appropriate action against newspapers and news portals disseminating misinformation on COVID-19 creating fear and panic in the society. Rai opined that the administration is issuing directives to curb COVID-19, and that it was not lockdown but misinformation that has fuelled panic among the people.

BJP leader Kanak Purkayastha sought the intervention of the Minister and the Deputy Commissioner for initiating the process of treatment of COVID patients in private nursing homes and of private doctors coming forward to treat such patients. The meeting also reviewed the measures to be taken against the escalation of prices of essential commodities, including vegetables.

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