V Kashiho Sangtam, Minister for Soil & Water Conservation, Geology & Mining, NSMDC chairing the DPDB meeting at DC's Conference hall in Kiphire Town. (Morung photo)
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Morung Express News
Kiphire | June 10
The District Planning Development Board (DPDB) Kiphire held a meeting on June 10 under the chairmanship of V Kashiho Sangtam, Minister for Soil & Water Conservation, Geology & Mining, NSMDC at the DC's Conference Hall to review the ongoing fight against COVID-19.
Sangtam, who is also the minister in-charge of COVID-19 for Kiphire district, appreciated the District Task Force led by the district administrations, police, medical and civil society organizations for collectively working together and successfully enforcing government SOPs.
Stressing on the need to thoroughly educate people at the grassroots about the new SOP, he expressed concern that many village councils were still setting up village gates and restricting entry and movement of their own people. No ward and village should decline to accept their own citizen, he urged.
The Minister further cautioned that village councils acting beyond the writ mentioned in the SOP will be dealt according to law and will be liable to be dissolved if their actions are not immediately rectified.
Emphasizing on the need for active participation from all stakeholders in the fight against COVID-19, he called upon the citizens of Kiphire not to discriminate returnees in any way.
He also pointed out that since cultivation was exempted from the purview of lockdown, no restriction should be imposed on agriculture activities by any village council. It is important for the livelihood of the farmers and the district as a whole, he added.
He further urged the people to learn to live with COVID-19 by taking proper care of oneself and adhering to all guidelines.
The Minister meanwhile directed all HoDs to be in station as responsible officers and work for the welfare of the district as the present situation calls for their active participation and support.
Dr E Motsuthung Patton, Chief Medical Officer, Kiphire informed the house that the COVID-19 hospital in the district has one ventilator with 2 ICU Level 1 beds, 9 COVID-19 beds and 10 isolation beds. He added that the district hospital has all the essential medicines. He informed that samples have been collected from three quarantine centres in Kiphire and sent to Kohima for testing.
The CMO added that Trunat testing machine will be installed shortly in the district, for which doctors have been sent for training. He however stated that even if the machine is installed, it will take some time to operate as clearance and approval from ICMR would be required.
The CMO meanwhile lamented that the district hospital in Kiphire does not have enough manpower to keep up with the testing of samples as presently there are only 3 lab technicians. We will be able to test only 15-30 samples a day once Trunat machine is installed, he said.
Deputy Commissioner and Chairperson, DTF, Sarita Yadav, IAS informed that a reception centre has been created at helipad ground where all returnees are screened before they are taken to different quarantine centres.
She said that returnees are segregated according to their point of origin for their safety and to minimize the threat of infection. This also enables effective monitoring, she added.
With the increasing number of returnees each day, the DC said that quarantine centres in Kiphire town might not be able to accommodate all the returnees in Kiphire town alone. She therefore asked sub-divisional officers to be prepared to receive returnees if quarantine centres in Kiphire run out of space.
The DPDB also awarded Chumliba R from Loyola Higher Secondary School Kiphire who secured top one position in the Arts stream in the recently concluded HSSLC exams and Sumit who secured top 9th position in the HSLC exam with a cash prize and citation from the DPDB and the Minister.
On the sideline of the DPDB meeting, a district task meeting was also held where it was decided that once quarantine centres in Kiphire become saturated returnees will be sent to Pungro for institution quarantine.
Further the house resolved that all possible options will be looked into to create more quarantine centres in Kiphire town before sending the returnees to sub-divisions for institutional quarantine.
