Appeals CM to review decision to send all returnees to districts
Phek, May 29 (MExN): The Chakhesang Youth Front (CYF) has demanded immediate setting up of a BSL-3 laboratory and provision of COVID-19 health care facilities as well as expert health care workers for Phek district.
In an appeal to the Nagaland Chief Minister on May 28, CYF President Lhuvesayi Lohe and General Secretary Nyitso Therie expressed shock at the decision of the state government to send back all returnees, including COVID-19 positive cases, to their respective districts and demanded review of the decision.
“This has stunned us all for having such inconsideration of not realizing the pathetic condition of the Health care facilities and shortages of Health Care Workers at the grass root level in the Districts,” the CYF release stated.
It put across that the Chief Minister had initially “confidently assured us all by saying our Nagaland government is ‘well prepared’, however, that assurance was short-lived and instead took a dramatic honest admission of your own government to come out to say we are ‘unprepared’ with the onset of facing the real pandemic situation in the state now.”
While it accepted the ‘honest admission’ of the government’s unpreparedness, the CYF stated that it was aware “of the careless negligence in spreading the virus due to inconsiderate decisions” in Tuensang. As such, it stated that “Phek District is also a much neglected district which is not in a position at all to tackle this kind of enormous responsibility in fighting this dreaded corona virus.”
“There are hardly any protective health kits available to fight it. There is only a single ventilator and its use would be unimaginable in case of any epidemic; if it actually occurs. There is no testing facility of our own district for any emergencies. Therefore, we appeal you to kindly review your decision of sending back the returnees to the respective Districts at this juncture,” the CYF stated in its appeal.
It appealed the Chief Minister to immediately meet the district’s “few basic needs” such as Bio Safety Laboratory- 3, additional ventilators, sufficient health workers and technicians, provision for sufficient COVID-19 bed facilities, necessary funds and infrastructural amenities and sufficient good quality PPEs, etc.
“During this COVID-19 pandemic health emergency, we would like to remind you here that any individual, any COVID-19 patient, anywhere, should be given equal treatment since every potential virus carrier has equal threat to humanity,” it added.
