Newmai News Network
Imphal | February 18
The Manipur Government is all prepared to "tackle" the outbreak of coronavirus. This information was given by Manipur Health and Family Welfare Minister L. Jayantakumar Singh in the legislative assembly session on Tuesday. "The State is all prepared to tackle the current outbreak of novel coronavirus," the minister informed the house.
Replying to a question raised during the Question Hour by Surjakumar Okram, MLA of Khangabok assembly constituency, the Health Minister said that the screening process of passengers is being done by a team including two doctors, two nurses and an attendant with equipment at the Imphal International Airport. "The screening process is also done along with the manpower and equipment at surface entry points since January 18, 2020 namely at Moreh Gate 1 and 2, Jiribam, Beihang (Churachandpur), Sinjol (Churachandpur), Tusom (Ukhrul), Kamjong and Mao Gate (Senapati)", he added.
Minister Jayantakumar also informed the house that four isolation wards each at Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Medical Sciences (JNIMS) have been opened. Stating that in the isolation wards of RIMS have two ventilators and one ventilator in JNIMS, the Health minister said that health services under the instruction from the Centre have procured masks available in the local market. He also said that any type of leave for all the officials and staffs under the State Health Directorate has been cancelled.
Informing that as there is no special budget allocated for the tackling the novel coronavirus, he said the fund available under the Office Expenses and Office Contingency will be utilised if required. Stating that the neighbouring state of Nagaland has sealed its border areas, he said the State Government is also discussing on sealing the borders and has banned the import of edible food items especially from the South East Asian countries.
The minister then informed that 248 persons came to Manipur from China and other novel coronavirus affected countries from mid January 2020 till February 17, 2020. Stating that there were 9 suspected cases, he said that seven test samples received were all found to be negative. He also said that out of the two awaited results, one test result received today is also tested negative.
Informing the House regarding the measures to tackle the issue, Jayantakumar said that sample collection and testing are done as per the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Government of India. He also said that Rapid Response Teams at the State and District level are on alert. The Health minister further said that Information Education and Communication (IEC) on print and electronic media by the Directorate of Health Services are done on regular basis. He added that sensitisation programmes at the State, the district and the community levels are being done by concerned Health authorities regularly. Jayantakumar also stated that, from time to time video conference with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is done and regular correspondence with National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), New Delhi on preparedness; update and feedback are also done.
