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Medical personnel in Zunheboto stitching masks to be used to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health centres stitch their own masks
Rebecca K Kits
Dimapur | March 31
As the nationwide lockdown ensues in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, there have been reports of shortages and insufficient supply of masks, sanitizers and protective gears in many parts of the state.
In Zunheboto, medical teams in different parts of the district have come up with ingenious ways to deal with the requirements in their units.
Aghunato Community Health Centre (CHC) and Tokiye Primary Health Centre (PHC) have started stitching masks for their own use and even for patients and volunteers.
Aghunato CHC has received 40 masks and 5 lifebuoy soaps till date, an official at the CHC revealed. With more than 50 staff in the CHC, the disposable surgical masks were far from enough.
Dr Kipito Awomi, MO at Aghunato CHC told The Morung Express that the staff started stitching their own masks with the cloth that was available in the health centre. Green masks are for the medical staff while grey masks are for patients and volunteers, he said.
There are two check points in Aghunato—one linking the subdivision to Mokokchung and another to Tuensang and Kiphire. Aghunato CHC medical team has been screening people at the two check points, besides treating the patients in the 25-bedded health centre, Dr Awomi said.
The masks that we have stitched are sterilised and they're also washable, so we hope we can use them until more supplies arrive, Dr Awomi said.
In Tokiye, Medical Officer Dr Rosemary is also leading the staff in the Tokiye PHC in stitching masks for the staff and patients.
"Even if we go to Zunheboto, we have been told that there are no more masks in the market. So we had to resort to stitching masks for our own use," she said.
They used whatever materials were available with them, and also purchased some meters of cloth to stitch the masks. So far, Aghunato CHC has stitched and distributed more than 200 masks, while Tokiye PHC has also managed to stitch masks for all their staff.
Health centres in far flung areas of the state continue to combat shortage of medical supplies despite the State government's assurance of being prepared for COVID-19.
With the first consignment of medical equipment for Nagaland arriving in Dimapur on March 30, whether they can hope to breathe a sigh of relief is a question only time will answer.
