Our Correspondent
Imphal, Dec. 27 (EMN): Manipur state is well prepared to deal with any COVID-19 situation, said director of state Health Services, Dr. Khoirom Sasheekumar Mangang.
Addressing a press conference in Imphal on Tuesday, the director said the state’s readiness to deal with COVID 19 came to light during the mock drill conducted across health facilities in the state.
The state has as many as 598 beds including 124 beds with intensive care unit facilities.
Unlike in the past, the state is also having adequate oxygen support as almost all the PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) oxygen plants across 16 districts of the state are functional, Sasheekumar said and added that the number of hospital beds can also be increased if necessary.
Informing that the state has 20,000 oxygen cylinders and 92 government ambulances across the districts, he said the government is also planning to install RT-PCR machines in the remaining few districts, apart from having 1.5 lakh RAT test essentials in stock for improvement of testing facility.
The mock drill in the northeastern state was conducted to fully activate the entire COVID infrastructure following the central government advisory in the wake of surge in Covid-19 cases in some countries.
On the vaccination status in the state, the senior health official disclosed that the state's vaccination rate is 62.8 percent for the first dose,52 percent for the second dose and below 30 percent for booster dose.
As of Tuesday, no new case of Covid 19 has been reported in the state for two weeks in a row.
So far, the virus has claimed 2149 lives in the state and infected 1,39,922 individuals.
H&FW minister reviews COVID-19 preparedness
Meanwhile, Manipur Health & Family Welfare minister, Dr. S Ranjan Singh on Tuesday reviewed the Covid-19 preparedness in the state.
The minister visited the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) and Thoubal District Hospital as a part of precautionary measures, which are being taken up nationwide, as per instruction of the Prime Minister of India.
Speaking to media on the sidelines of the review programme, Dr. Ranjan informed that there has been an alarming increase of COVID-19 cases in some of countries during the past few days.
In a video conference on Friday, the Union Health Minister had instructed all the states to gear up COVID-19 preparedness.
Accordingly, the state Health department is also taking up all possible steps to control COVID-19 in the state, the minister said.
Hospital authorities have been instructed to keep medical equipment and infrastructures like oxygen cylinders, ICU wards and isolation wards ready for use at any time. Face masks should be used in public places, he added.