COVID tally spikes by 53; 10,000 samples untested
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 13 2020: Keeping the recent trend of double-digit spike, 53 new COVID-19 cases have been detected today taking the State's tally to 459 .

On the other hand, of all the Manipuri people who returned to the State by train, flight and bus in the midst of the countrywide lockdown, 10,000 people are yet to be tested for COVID-19 even though their samples have been already collected.

A total of 53 people were confirmed for COVID-19 during the last 24 hours, said Health Department's Additional Director and COVID-19 Common Control Room spokesperson Dr Khoirom Sashikumar Mangang in a statement.

The 53 samples were tested positive for COVID 19 at JNIMS and RIMS.

They will be kept at State COVID Care Centre and all necessary preventive measures are being taken up, said the statement.

Meanwhile, four persons, two each from Churachandpur and Tengnoupal districts have recovered and they have been discharged from JNIMS.

With Chief Minister N Biren in the chair, the COVID-19 State Consultative Committee held a meeting this afternoon and discussed about testing all the samples as soon as possible.

The meeting also reviewed the State Government's efforts to install a new COVID-19 testing equipment which can test 3000 to 4000 samples in a day, sources informed.

Officials of Health Department who participated in the meeting informed that samples have been collected from 10,000 returnees but they have not been tested yet while samples are yet to be collected from 6000 returnees who are confined in different quarantine centres.

So far, around 38,000 State natives who were stranded in different parts of the country have reached the State by train, bus and flight.

If the new equipment is installed, the State's COVID-19 testing capacity would be enhanced considerably, noted the meeting.

It also deliberated on strictly enforcing the prescribed SOP and other guidelines in all quarantine centres.

Notably, six inmates of a quarantine centre located at Nambol, Bishnupur district were taken to the quarantine centre of Sajiwa Central Jail yesterday after they quarrelled with volunteers and security personnel posted at the quarantine centre.

The meeting discussed about whether to tighten the lockdown or not in view of the rapid and continuous spike in the COVID-19 positive cases, conveyed the sources.

Many of the participants opined that there would not be any need for tightening the lockdown provided inmates of quarantine centres strictly abide by SOP and guidelines issued by the Government and health experts.

Opening of COVID care centres in other district as done at UNACCO School, Meitram was another agenda of the meeting.

The meeting further discussed about hospitals where dialysis of kidney patients would be done in case any one of them is tested positive for COVID-19.RIMS officials who attended the meeting said that there is dialysis facility for kidney patients at RIMS even if they test positive for COVID-19 .

COVID-19 patients are treated at JNIMS, RIMS, Bishnupur district hospital and UNACCO School.

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