Healthcare workers, docs yet to be deputed to CCC, Jiri
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, July 12 2020: Even though the COVID-19 expert team which was in Jiribam has recommended the Government to open the proposed COVID-19 Care Centre (CCC) at Harinagar from tomorrow, the Health Department has not yet deputed doctors and healthcare staff who will man the centre.

Sources familiar with the COVID-19 development in the district said the experts' team who were assessing the situation at Jiribam returned to Imphal yesterday.

Meanwhile, the Health Department has also not yet deputed a single staff for the district's Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme, said the sources.

It may be noted that the COVID-19 Care Centre is to be opened at the Model School in Harinagar following protest of the locals to set up the centre somewhere other than the district hospital.

In addition to the issue of staff, the proposed centre lacks required equipment to face the pandemic effectively, the sources said adding the district is in a "very serious situation" .

The expert team has recommended mass testing at various places of the district including Dibong, Chingdong, Sorok Atingbi, Islamabad, Kalinagar and Babupara.

With the centre not yet opened, the district is facing difficulties in finding accommodation for the patients who have been infected by the virus.

Given the distance between Imphal and Jiribam coupled with the prevailing unpredictable weather conditions, evacuating the patients to Imphal is not a favourable option also, said the sources adding around 140 rapid antigen tests were conducted at Jiribam today and all were found to be negative.

Meanwhile, the detection of the virus in the sample of a recovered patient from Singjamei might be due to the real time PCR detecting a fraction of the genome of the virus or reactivation of the virus, said RIMS Medical Superintendent Dr Arunkumar.

There have been reports of recovered patients confirmed for the virus again in South Korea.

Nonetheless, this needs to be investigated efficiently to avoid the spread of the virus, he said.

Even as the State's COVID-19 tally has reached 1609 with five new cases, Jiribam has not reported any case today.

A report from the COVID-19 Common Control Room showed that 16 cases (including the 11 cases TSE reported yesterday) were detected at RIMS and JNIMS.

15 cases were detected at JNIMS while one case was detected at RIMS.

They hail from Chandel (1), Imphal East (3), Kakching (1), Kangpokpi (6) and Senapati (5).They will be shifted to COVID-19 Care Centres, said the report.

On the other hand, 53 persons have recovered and they have been discharged today from CCC at Meitram (16), Churachandpur (4), Kakching (2), Senapati (2), Ukhrul (8), RIMS (12), and JNIMS (9).The recovery rate now stands at 55.68 percent with the number of recovered persons exceeding the number of positive cases.

The State now has 713 active cases and 896 persons have recovered from the disease.

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