Purnungba L
Dimapur, April 1 (EMN): The medical and health establishments of Mon district are working their best to ensure that they are ready for any eventuality amid the threat of the coronavirus pandemic.
Health workers there have not trained for this kind of situation and for now it is difficult to say how prepared they are. Nonetheless, they are prepared in the best possible way they can, a health official said.
Mon district has received the first consignment of medical equipment from the government of Nagaland.
However, a second consignment for it has not yet reached the district. As of now, it has 90 personal protective equipment (PPE) and have sufficient three-layer mask but do not have N95 masks.
The District Vector borne officer/district surveillance officer (DVBO/DSO) for Mon Dr. Limatula, gave updates to Eastern Mirror on April 1 informing about the situation in Mon.
She informed that the district does not have an intensive care unit (ICU) facility but is setting up an isolation ward for patients at the district hospital consisting of 12 beds. There are plans to expand it.
The health official said if the situation compels there will be shortage of manpower. As of now, the establishment has one anaesthesiologist and around 26 doctors and 124 nurses for the entire district.
Facilities
Mon district has two functional quarantine facilities, one in Mon town and the other at Aboi, she said. Two more quarantine facilities at Tobu and Naginimora are being set up, she said.
The official said the police department is trying its best to curb the movement of people as much as possible as far as the lockdown is concerned.
There is no shortage of essential commodities as of now, she said. People’s movement have been reduced since yesterday, the official said.
Limatula informed that at the moment there are six people at Aboi and three people in Mon town who have been admitted to quarantine centres because they have travel history.
Moreover, they could not travel to their respective village because of the lockdown. The official added that they will be kept at the quarantine centres for 14 days as a precaution.
Dr. Chenjei, a health official in Mon district, also informed that the health workers there have not trained for this kind of situation. Therefore, he said, it is difficult to say how prepared they are but they are prepared in the best possible way they can.
Further, he said that most of the people there are at home self-quarantining. Workers of the medical department are said to be regularly calling up the people at home for updates about their health.