Northeast
States intimate PM about safety equipment shortage for health workers, says M’laya CM
Shillong, April 2 (PTI): Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma said on Thursday that during video conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Covid-19 situation, almost all the states aired problem arising due to shortage of personal protection equipment for health professionals looking after the coronavirus infected patients.
We had a fruitful discussion with Prime Minister during which states were given opportunity to air their grievances and issues. Most states highlighted lack of personal protection equipment for health professionals dealing with the coronavirus patients, Sangma told PTI after the event.
“We discussed our actions to tackle the pandemic in the weeks ahead,” he said.
The PM chaired a meeting through video conference during the day with the chief ministers to take stock of the situation in the aftermath of coronavirus outbreak.
Meghalaya has not reported any confirmed case of Covid-19 so far but the state government is taking safeguards against the deadly virus spread by implementing 21-day nationwide lockdown.
Giving detail of preparations to tackle Covid-19 menace, Sangma said civil hospitals in Shillong and at Tura in the West Garo Hills district have been designated for the Covid-19 patients.
The state government has also directed the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) to follow protocols while admitting patients coming from other states in the region, he said.
Meghalaya is tracking down every single person with travel history and has asked them to undergo a mandatory self- isolation for 14 days.
Over 7,700 people, who moved to the state recently, have been placed under quarantine and over 40 samples examined so far, all of which tested negative for the disease.
As the chief minister urges people to strictly follow the lockdown guidelines, the state government has prepared two isolation centres in the state capital and three in the Garo Hills region with a total 500 beds to deal with the mega health crisis.