Residents protest against a COVID-19 Suspected Center being set up in a Nursing Home in Siliguri Kawakhali
Siliguri, 13th April: In view of the Coronavirus outbreak, speculations surfaced that a nursing home in the Siliguri Kawakhali area will be converted into a COVID-19 Suspected Center.
In view of this, the locals of the said area staged a protest, last night, and claimed that setting up such a centre can easily spread the deadly virus in the locality.
The protestors demanded that the Suspected COVID-19 Center should be shifted to the city outskirts as it will lower the risk of the spread of the virus.
Upon receiving the news, the Matigara police reached the spot and brought the situation under control.
Siliguri man feeds 1000 needy amid lockdown
Siliguri,13th April: In light of the nationwide lockdown, Manik Arora, a resident of Siliguri Haiderpara distributed ration among one thousand poor people.
He stated that the ration distribution will continue until Tuesday. Arora further added that keeping in mind the Bengali new year, such an initiative has been taken.Siliguri police rebuke people without masks in public
POSTED ON APRIL 13, 2020 BY SILIGURI TIMES
Siliguri, 13th April: The West Bengal government issued an order on Sunday, April 12, making the use of masks mandatory for citizens while stepping out of their houses. The order said that in the absence of a mask, people can use a piece of cloth, either a handkerchief or any such material that can be used to cover a person’s nose and mouth.
Despite the order, several people were spotted without masks in the streets of Siliguri today. In this regard, the police officials stopped many pedestrians without masks and made them aware of the new order passed by the State government.
As per the report, all police personnel have been instructed to raise awareness among the violators regarding the importance of wearing mouth masks.
HEALTH DG SHARES WHY NO RUSH JOB FOR COVID-19 LAB IN SIKKIM
PANKAJ DHUNGEL
GANGTOK: A lot of concern has been raised with regards to the non-availability of a viral testing lab or COVID-19 lab in the State. The concerns have been expressed by the public, health workers, politicians and social activists.
Meanwhile, efforts are on to set up a viral testing lab in Sikkim but could take 2-3 months as Sikkim needs to start from scratch to implement the process and fulfil statutory norms involved.
Speaking with SIKKIM EXPRESS on Saturday at Health Secretariat here, Health director general Dr. Pempa Tshering Bhutia said: “We do not want to develop a viral lab in a rush, there are so many guidelines to follow, before the ICMR approves. Yes, notably wide sections of people have raised the concern for COVID-19 or viral testing lab in the State, with arguments like Mizoram could develop in eight days. But, to clarify on the same, Mizoram had a viral testing lab before, similar was the case with North Bengal, it was the same viral testing lab receiving accreditation from ICMR and adequate equipment being set up, that they are functioning as COVID-19 testing lab.”
Dr. Bhutia added that Sikkim should not endeavour to set up a viral testing lab in a rush. Making the lab in a rush could jeopardise the ICMR accreditation and also affect the patients in the long run, he observed.
“What we make in Sikkim has to be good, of standard level, with bio safety cabinet, filtration system with clean air emission. The lab needs to be dirt-free and with epoxy flooring. There are guidelines that tiles are not the ideal flooring for labs, as the joining of tiles could house bacteria. The labs are not supposed to have corners, so the Epoxy flooring and walling will be without corners. In a rush, we could make a hazardous lab,” he said.
There are also notifications around the heath community stating that a COVID-19 lab needs to conduct at least 100 tests a day.
It was pointed out that Sikkim so far has sent only 70 samples for testing, all of which have come as negative.
Another guideline is that there should be no two labs within a distance of 100 km.
The nearest COVID-19 testing lab for Sikkim is North Bengal Medical College, Siliguri, a little more than 100 km away from Gangtok.
There really is not an issue with Sikkim sending its samples to North Bengal Medical College, said the Health director general.
Three staffs from Health department were recently sent to understand the functioning and condition of North Bengal Medical College and Hospital’s viral testing lab. Upon return, they were placed in five days of quarantine and their samples sent for testing since they had travelled out of State. Their samples came negative and were discharged from quarantine.
“They were mostly engineers who had gone for a visit so that requirements for State’s viral testing lab can be understood when the testing lab comes into existence in the next 2-3 months. They have been working in the 9th floor and are waiting for equipment to come after the lockdown ends. They have assured that civil work will take no less than a month,” said Dr. Bhutia.
Sikkim government has also ordered 10,000 rapid testing kits but it is different from the Real Time PCR being done to collect samples at STNM hospital presently.
“The rapid testing kit is like a glucometer test for symptoms of COVID-19, before conducting the Real Time-PCR, this can be conducted and based on the result, we can conduct the test if it comes through as positive. This will be ideally used for Health workers to check whether they have been exposed or not. It can also be used on the people who are quarantined, before they are cleared,” said the Health director general.
The rapid testing kits will be sent to different places of Sikkim where symptoms are observed most.
CHAMLING INVESTING LOCKDOWN DAYS IN LITERATURE, DIGITAL INTERACTION WITH PEOPLE
BIJOY GURUNG
GANGTOK: Former Chief Minister Pawan Chamling, perhaps for the first time in his over four decades of a pressing public life, has been confined indoors and away from public engagements for a prolonged period.
The SDF president is based at his Ghurpishey residence near Namchi with his family since the 21-day national lockdown started from March 25. He is spending time in literary pursuits and interacting with people online during the lockdown days besides keeping abreast of the coronavirus situation and its impact through media reports, a family member informs SIKKIM EXPRESS.
“Pawan Chamling being a people’s leader is most in his element when he is with the people. In this regard and being away from the people, the lockdown has proved to be difficult but on the other hand, he had always led a deeply disciplined life and I see that despite the monotony of being confined to one place, he has created a disciplined schedule of work which propels him forward each day in his writing and study. He has also been keeping in touch with the people through his social media accounts, virtually interacting with them, and has been urging the people to strictly abide by the lockdown norms,” the family member shared.
Observing the lockdown strictly, Chamling is not meeting anyone at his residence. No appointments are allowed till the end of the lockdown. However, he is in constant touch with the party workers, public and well-wishers over the phone, it was informed.
As an MLA for 35 years and a Chief Minister for 25 years, Chamling expended maximum hours of a day in public service and State administration with little time for family and personal indulgences. Even as an opposition leader, his daily schedule was hectic but the lockdown has halted his normal routine – a pause that he is investing in his poetic persona Pawan Chamling ‘Kiran’.
“Right now with the lockdown, Chamling has uninterrupted time to study, for leisure and for family, which has been an unexpected luxury at this time of crisis. Although he is a political figure and leader, his writer-self is something that is at his core and defines him. His creative output has always been high and right now too, we have been seeing a high level of creative labour since the lockdown. He just finished rewriting and editing three booklets of party literature. He has been writing poetry and lyrics as well and is now working on a book of his political philosophy and ideology,” said the family member.
It was informed that the poet-politician has just finished re-reading ‘Long Walk to Freedom’, an autobiography by Nelson Mandela, the Nobel laureate whom the former Sikkim Chief Minister greatly admires. The book, in particular during the lockdown period, was because he believes in Mandela’s unflinching commitment to the cause of freeing South Africa from apartheid and even after being jailed for 27 years, there was no reduction in his zeal and courage to free his nation from the scourge of apartheid.
Currently, Chamling is reading ‘The Green New Deal’ by Jeremy Rifkin, a book that advocates for a post-carbon economy with the steady decline in the global fossil fuel reserves. In terms of poetry, a dear subject, he has explored the works of celebrated Nepali poets Saraswati Pratiksha and Shrawan Mukarung and Indian poet late Avtar Singh ‘Pash’ during this lockdown.
Meanwhile, Chamling has been constantly following the developments related with COVID-19 and national lockdown.
Asked how he is responding to it, the family member shared that the developments with the pandemic have perturbed Chamling deeply.
“Long before the pandemic blew into the proportions it has now blown into, Chamling was worried and immediately dug into research as to how it can impact us and what can be done to protect ourselves from the virus. He has been keeping constant tabs on the status of the pandemic globally as well as in India.”
During this lockdown period, Chamling has been spending his time ruminating, through writing and reflection, on how the present and future of Sikkim and Sikkimese people can be best protected, it was shared.
The former Chief Minister, it was informed, was also disappointed over how politics has been mixed into the handling of the crises in Sikkim as per his reading of the local news.
‘To see that some papers are writing about how the funds from the earthquake relief were allegedly misused, for instance, instead of spreading awareness on the virus and how we can stay safe, has been disappointing to him. There are reports of politicization, even for the disbursement of relief materials and this has saddened him.”
“Chamling believes that the crisis we are facing now is not an SKM issue or an SDF issue; it is a public issue. So, leaving politics aside, everyone has to work unitedly, against the common problem we are facing. He believes that leaving each and every difference aside, everyone has to work together to protect our State from the potentially devastating impact of the pandemic on Sikkim,” said the family member.siliguritimes/sikkimexpress, from/india
