SDF demands COVID-19 testing lab in view of new ICMR guideline
Staff Reporter
GANGTOK: SDF spokesperson M.K. Subba on Sunday reiterated the party’s demand for a COVID-19 testing lab within Sikkim, especially in light of a recent notification of Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), Government of India.
Speaking to media here, the SDF spokesperson mentioned that the ICMR today issued a note regarding establishment of COVID-19 testing labs at different districts in India.
“So far, there are more than 200 testing labs in the country but Sikkim has no such lab though we have been regularly pressing the SKM government to install such facility in the State. The ICMR today issued several criteria for establishing of a COVID-19 testing lab and among them, one is enough for Sikkim. The one criterion is that a COVID-testing lab can be set up if the nearest such facility is 150 km away from the particular location,” said Subba.
The nearest coronavirus testing lab for Sikkim is North Bengal Medical College & Hospital in Siliguri, which Subba said, is more or less 150 km away.
Based on this latest ICMR note, I request the State government to press for setting up a COVID-19 testing lab in Sikkim, said the SDF spokesperson.
To a question, Subba said the two MPs from Sikkim and the State BJP have not done enough to address this principal concern of Sikkim with the Centre.
“We have two MPs from Sikkim – one from SDF party in Rajya Sabha and one from SKM party in Lok Sabha. Yes, the lockdown and coronavirus situation is managed by a three-layered disaster management system consisting of the Prime Minister at the Centre, the Chief Minister at the State and the district magistrate at the district level. However, our MPs should not insist on protocol. They should have come forward and press the Centre and ICMR for a COVID-19 lab in Sikkim. They should have also come forward for public service and relief work during the lockdown period. However, it is sad that both are inactive and invisible at the moment,” said the SDF spokesperson.
Subba added that though the State BJP had written to the Centre recently for COVID-19 testing lab, the State unit could have done more for Sikkim as it is the BJP which is running the government at the Centre.
The SDF spokesperson maintained that there is confusion and haphazardness in the distribution of relief food packages to the people by the State government. There is a system to distribute the relief materials as per the Disaster Management Act and Food Security Act but it is not being properly followed here creating confusion, he said. He asserted that there should be no discrimination on political lines while selecting the beneficiaries.
Subba further demanded the State government to formulate an economic relief package for those here who have been hit hard by the lockdown and recession. The State government should form an advisory board consisting of experts and stakeholders so that an economic relief package is formulate to help those small entrepreneurs and self-employed persons of Sikkim who are suffering from the lockdown and recession, he said.
HAMRO SIKKIM WANTS STATE TO SET UP STRONG MECHANISM FOR ENSURING HELP REACHES PEOPLE
SE Report
GANGTOK: The Hamro Sikkim Party (HSP) has listed some suggestions for the State government to take up on an urgent basis to provide relief to the affected people during the lockdown period.
In a press statement today, HSP spokesperson Biraj Adhikari said the HSP has been getting calls from the people in numerous villages in Sikkim, informing about the lack of essential rations in certain areas where the poor people are being severely affected. We are being approached, almost daily, by Sikkimese students who have applied through the published channels but are yet to receive any help as promised by the government while some have got the aid, he said.
“The Hamro Sikkim Party believes that sufficient time has passed now after almost eleven days of the lockdown and more delay in delivering promised aid has the potential to be a crisis of unimaginable proportions, especially for the poor,” said Adhikari giving the party’s suggestions.
The HSP suggested that the State government set up a foolproof mechanism by which non-medical help reaches the affected people around Sikkim. Our state is the smallest State in India with the smallest population and any further delay shall be construed as gross inefficiency of the government, he said.
The party said financial help for students of Sikkim studying outside the States should be taken up at the earliest so that they do not suffer anywhere in the country.
Make full out efforts to bring about government to government contact with all States, especially in cities where our children are, and even Siliguri, our gateway where stranded people are stuck, said Adhikari. He added that ‘immediate steps be taken to advertise the point of contact or helplines, again and for as long it is required, so that the effected people can contact the right agencies and nodal persons, so that no one is left in the lurch.’
“We are all going through trying times, and huge amounts have been collected locally as well as sent by the Central government, but if proper management of resources is not achieved quickly the consequences of failure shall be worse than the virus itself,” said Adhikari.
EVERYONE NEED NOT WEAR PPE, HEALTH MINISTER TELLS DOCTORS
New Delhi (IANS) Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan on Sunday visited AIIMS’ dedicated centre for COVID19 in Haryana’s Jhajjar. The Minister spoke to the medical staff and took stock of preparedness over COVID-19.
“Don’t compromise on protection in the quarantine centre. However, everyone need not use PPE,” Vardhan told doctors.
“AIIMS has enough PPE material. Every thing has a guideline. Everyone should not use PPE. When we work in hospitals as a routine, not everyone uses PPE,” said the Minister.
The dedicated block for treatment of COVID in Jhajjar has been set up on the fifth floor of the hospital block which was for cancer patients earlier. The cancer patients are now admitted on the ground floor and on the fifth floor, COVID patients are admitted.
It has 40 normal beds and 25 ICU beds. Only 7 patients are currently admitted in this block and none of them is in ICU or ventilator, all of them in ward, the doctors told Vardhan.
The hospital has the capacity of 300 patients of which only 50 per cent capacity has been utilised so far.
The medical staff also informed the Health Minister that 162 patients admitted in the hospital are stable. They told him that only one casualty has been reported since the centre was operational. The person was among the Nizamuddin Markaz group and had comorbidity.
The doctors informed the minister that 28 people from Tablighi Jamaat connection have tested negative.
The Minister asked the doctors to keep them quarantined for 14 days and repeat the test as per the protocol.
“There is no question of discharging them who have come from particular contact history,” said the minister.
The doctors also told the Minister that there is communication problem with NizamuddiN Markaz people as they dont know English or Hindi, a few of them are from Malaysia and Thailand. Out of total 155 admitted in AIIMS Jhajjar, there are 121 positive cases of coronavirus. The total capacity of the hospital is 300 beds.sikkimexpress/from ,india
