‘We are not out of the woods’

Nagaland CS stresses need for vaccination to combat third wave 

Morung Express News
Kohima | June 22

With COVID-19 positivity rate coming down to 8.3% in Nagaland, officials at the State Level War Room feel that the State might have passed the peak of the second wave; however they added that the cases are being closely monitored.

Interacting with some media personnel on June 22 at the COVID War Room, Chief Secretary, J Alam who is also the chairperson of the State Level War Room said “We feel we have passed the peak of the second wave but we are not out of the woods. We will be closely monitoring the cases.”

With the imminent third wave in the country, Alam stressed the need to ramp up vaccination among the populace stating that “Vaccination is the only effective way in combating coronavirus.”

He said the government’s focus is now on intensive vaccination drive and acknowledged the gradual decline of vaccine hesitancy among the citizens where more people are coming forward for the COVID-19 vaccine.

“The State war room has been continuously monitoring the progress of vaccination in the State, and in the past few weeks one major focus was to increase the speed of vaccination to increase coverage of all eligible persons,” said Alam.

He further informed that out of the targeted 13 lakh, about 4 lakh people have been vaccinated and expressed hope that in the next 4-5 months,   the State would achieve its target.

Also observing the testing hesitancy among the people due to the attached stigma, the Chief Secretary said testing has to be ramped up to ascertain if the positivity is coming down or going up.

While appealing the people to come forward for testing for their own safety as well as those around them, Alam said “Testing without stigma” should be the motto to ramp up testing across the State.

“COVID-19 vaccination is safe, critical and essential to combat this virus,” said Home Commissioner, Abhijit Sinha who also stated that the State may have passed the peak of the second wave.

98 samples sent for genome sequencing

Meanwhile State Nodal Officer, IDSP H&FW Dr Nyanthung Kikon said 98 samples have been sent for genome sequencing to the designated lab in Kolkata 10 days ago. “We are hoping that the results will come as soon as possible,” he said.

He also said that there is a shift on transmission of the virus from urban to peri-urban and rural areas and that structural and procedural guidelines have been laid out for intensive surveillance. 

Role of State Level War Room

Giving a brief overview on the role and function of the State Level War Room, the Chief Secretary said it is primary to ensure the unity of command and control in the fight against COVID-19 in the State, and ensure sharing of all relevant information on real time basis for prompt and effective actions.

The focus of the State Level War Room during the present times, Alam said has been mostly on making interventions in health infrastructure particularly in view of the large number of people infected by COVID-19 getting hospitalised and requiring high level of medical care.

It also holds regular interactions with the District Task Forces (DTFs) through video conferencing to monitor implementation of the various guidelines issued by the State government and seek feedback for optimising management of the COVID-19, he informed.

Among other tasks like ensuring adequate availability of medical oxygen, availability of ICU beds, transportation of critical medical equipments and supplies, community surveillance, overseeing quality management for COVID-19 management in government hospitals, Alam said it holds deliberation and meetings with health experts and other officials concerned for effective management of COVID-19.

Besides, he added that the State Level War Room is for ensuring effective interventions whenever required for strengthening the health infrastructures and clinical management of COVID-19 cases. 

The State Level War Room was re-activated with the Chief Secretary as the chairperson on April 21.