Installation of BSL-3 Lab in ‘full progress’: Nagaland H&FW Minister

Installation work for Biosafety  Level (BSL) - 3 laboratory at Naga Hospital Authority  Kohima. (Photo Courtesy: @pangnyu/Twitter)

 

Morung Express News
Kohima | April 22

 

The installation work for Biosafety  Level (BSL) - 3 laboratory at Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK) is in ‘full progress,’  Nagaland Health & Family Welfare Minister (H&FW),  S Pangnyu Phom informed today.

 

“Lab technicians engaged in the work are working tirelessly for its early completion,” the minister said in a tweet.

 

Pangnyu further assured the people of the State that the “Testing Laboratory will be operational at the earliest.”

 

The first consignment of equipment required to set up a BSL-3 laboratory in Nagaland arrived on April 16 by a special flight arranged by the Indian Air Force (IAF).

 

The consignment, weighing about 18 tons of sophisticated equipment needed to set up the laboratory in a C-17 Globemaster III, IAF’s biggest transport aircraft.

 

The cargo sent was sent from Mumbai and was transported in with the intervention of Nagaland Governor, RN Ravi with Defence Minister,Rajnath Singh, a DIPR report then informed.

 

The next consignment for the BSL lab at Dimapur is expected to arrive soon.

 

Meanwhile, in another tweet, the minister said that a  batch of equipments for Haemodialysis Solution has reached the state on April 22.

 

“The Govt. & the Dept. is doing all efforts to ensure that our citizens avail the good health care system during this pandemic, (sic)”, he said.

 

He further expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare Minister (MoHFW), Government of India for its continuous support.

 

According to the MoHFW’s Guidelines for Dialysis of COVID – 19 patients, patients with Chronic kidney disease stage-5 on dialysis [maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) or continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD)] are also vulnerable group to COVID-19 because of their existing comorbidities, and repeated unavoidable exposure to hospital environment and immune suppressed state due to CKD-5.

 

State and Union Territories, as per the guidelines, should identify and earmark at-least one hemodialysis facility with adequate number of dialysis machines, trained staff, reverse osmosis (RO) water system and other support equipment as preparatory fixed-point dialysis unit in case of rise of COVID-19 epidemic.