• 7 Districts with single ventilator only
• ICUs in 9 districts range from 2-5
• PPE, NE-95 Mask shown to be ‘sufficiently’ in stock
Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 28
With Nagaland reporting 18 posit ive COVID-19 cases as of May 28, the availability of adequate health facilities and workforce becomes crucial for taking care of the patients as well as containing the spread of the infection.
Three weeks after the last assessment (May 10), a quick comparative assessment of the available ‘health facilities’ in the state by The Morung Express reflected no major enhancement in terms of availability of beds, Intensive Care Units (ICUs), isolation wards and ventilators.
However, the availability of the Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and N95 masks saw modest increments.
Beds and Isolation Wards
A comparison of data available on COVID-19 Dashboard for Nagaland on May 2, 10 and 28 reflected that availability of beds in COVID-19 Hospitals and isolation wards across the districts have saturated.
As per the latest update, a total of 464 beds were available at these hospitals (same as two previous assessments) across the state while isolation wards were down by 5 to 385 from last two occasions.
Kohima has the highest number of beds at COVID-19 Hospital at 90, followed by 84 in Mokokchung and 76 in Dimapur. Dimapur topped the figure in terms of beds in isolation wards at 86, while Mokokchung and Kohima were in second and third with 75 and 41 respectively.
Availability of beds in COVID-19 Hospitals was lowest in Kiphire (10) followed by 15 in Longleng and 20 in Peren. At 5, Longleng had the lowest number of beds in isolation ward, followed by 6 in Peren and 11 in Phek.
ICUs and ventilators
The availability of ICUs, however, is a cause for concern as in most districts, the numbers ranged from 2-5, while Longleng has none.
Only Dimapur and Kohima could be considered having ‘substantial’ ICUs in comparison with other districts at 22 and 23 respectively.
Another facility seriously in deficit was the availability of ventilator with only one each in 7 districts while Peren has none.
Dimapur has the highest number of ventilators at 10, followed by 10 in Kohima and 4 in Mokokchung.
The statuses of ICUs and ventilators more or less remained stagnant since May 2.
PPE and N-95
Overall the availability of the PPE and N95 masks saw modest increments when compared with the previous assessment. There were 25280 PPEs in the state as of May 28, up from 23674 on May 10. The number of N95 Masks also rose from 35229 from 36585 during the same period.
Health Workers
According to the Dashboard, a total of 523 Government Doctors were on duty on May 28, up from 505 Government Doctors on May 10. Doctors on leave also decreased from 39 to 38.
Nurses on duty also increased from 2117 to 2139 during the same period, while 35 were on leave.
