SHILLONG: The women’s wing of state Congress has urged the state government to tackle community transmission of COVID-19 efficiently in the state as it has spread rapidly of late.
Speaking to a section of the Press, president of Meghalaya Pradesh Mahila Congress (MPMC), Joplin Shylla questioned the reason behind imposing night curfew while people are allowed to venture out during the day-time.
She recalled the incident where a pregnant woman was denied admission in Ganesh Das Hospital which unfortunately led to the demise of her baby.
“Why does the government not take this seriously? The government should have been well organized, well prepared. In fact, the PHCs and CHCs should be well equipped so that people from rural areas should not come to Shillong but get necessary treatment there at the respective PHCs and CHCs”, she said.
She was also skeptical of the demise of the 15-year-old boy whose death was declared to be due to COVID while the family members were unsure of the cause of death.
Shylla also criticised the government for not disclosing the names of the patients for fear of stigmatization. “If the government discloses the names of the patients, we can at least know who they are and in a way take precautions. We urge the government to disclose the names of the patients”, she said.
Again, she expressed her discontent at the random testing conducted by the health department. She said that after 2-3 hours, the results are out and by the time, the positive person must have visited shops or met people and said that it is one of the reasons why community spread is high.
“The testing at Polo Grounds is risky. It is a public place and the Wah Umkhrah also flows through Polo, we are not sure where are the kits thrown?” she said.
Shylla suggested that ISBT at Mawiong or IIM, Umsawli should instead be used as testing center.
She also expressed concern that vendors should be moved to a different location as community transmission is high and said that a place should be allotted to them such as in Fire Brigade, Students’ Field.