Covid fight: Uphold all constructive suggestions
- The People's Chronicle Editorial :: June 02, 2021 -

THAT healthcare service providers have been fighting the coronavirus menace without the necessary inventories could be comprehended from MLAs of both ruling and opposition parties highlighting shortcomings in healthcare infrastructure in Thoubal and Kakching districts during a joint meeting convened on Monday with chief minister N Biren in the chair.

The interactive session held at the Thoubal DC's office complex was a significant one amid the crisis situation brought by the second wave of the pandemic as the people's elected representatives of assembly constituencies in the two districts as well as CSO functionaries had the opportunity to air their grievances and share suggestions to make the fight most effective.

Unlike the daily commentaries of opposition MLAs and civil society organisations alleging government incompetency as one of the factors for the pandemic destabilising the society, the meeting featured the attendees not only pointing out flaws in the healthcare sector but also giving vital suggestions to contain the virus.

All the recommendations from the participants such as increasing the number of Community Home Isolation Centres to handle spike in daily cases, disapproving the government policy of prioritising home isolation, conducting mass awareness programme on Covid vaccination to allay public hesitancy in getting inoculated, urging health department authorities to ensure impartial treatment to the needy people, extending assistance to the helpless families of Covid positive patients, ensuring presence of requisite healthcare personnel in Thoubal district hospital, etc., are indeed worth according importance and translating into action if the state is to overcome the medical crisis sooner rather than later.

After the virus-ravaged Imphal East and Imphal West districts, Thoubal and Kakching are among the worst-hit areas in the state with the latter in particular, which is a newly created district and lacking healthcare facilities, logging disturbing number of daily cases in the second wave.

As such, curbing further spread of the virus in both districts should be the topmost priority of the government.

While constructing new healthcare centres at this juncture is out of the context, the government should ensure adequate presence of medical practitioners and personnel in the existing facilities and provision of equipment deemed necessary to tackle the pandemic.

Equal emphasis should also be given towards mandatory housing of Covid-19 patients with no or mild symptoms in community home isolation centres as there has been growing disapproval ofthe government's home isolation policy.

In view of chief minister Biren asserting at the meeting that the state's earlier problem of shortage of medical oxygen has been addressed and rate of testing increased, it is but natural that the facilities to accommodate the infected people should be ramped up with sufficient availability of essential medicines and life-saving equipment.

As mooted by the chief minister during the meeting that the media should focus on the increasing number ofsamples tested and the recovery of patients, it must be acknowledged that had the media not headlined the grim ground reality and instilled fear among the citizens then the number of SOP violators pulled up on a daily basis might be much more than it is at present.

Nevertheless, it is desired that similar meetings with the stakeholders concerned in the worst-hit twin capital districts be held for holistic revision of the government policies and to encourage proactive participation of the elected representatives as well as the civil society organisations.

The government must admit that the fight against the virus cannot be won without the actual involvement of all sections of the society or rectification of policies only after aggravation of the crisis situation.