SHILLONG: The women’s wing of Congress has urged the state government to buckle up in tackling the ‘community transmission’ of COVID-19 in the state as the cases, of late, are rapidly increasing.
Speaking to a section of the press, president of Meghalaya Pradesh Mahila Congress (MPMC), Joplin Shylla, questioned the purpose of imposing night curfew in the state when people are free to venture out during the daytime.
She recalled the incident where a pregnant woman was denied admission in Ganesh Das Hospital, which allegedly led to the death of her baby.
“Why does the government not take this seriously? The government should have been well organised, well prepared. In fact, the PHCs and CHCs should be well equipped so that people from rural areas do not have to come to Shillong but can get necessary treatment there at the local level”, she said.
She also raised doubts on the cause of death of a 15 years old boy, whose death was declared to be due to COVID 19 while his own family members were not sure of it.
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 take precautions. We urge the government to disclose the names of the patients”, she said. She expressed her discontent at the random testing conducted by the health department. She pointed that it takes 2-3 hours for the results to be declared, and within that period, the positive person could have come into contact with other persons or visited public places. She claimed it to be ‘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 PPE kits thrown,” she added.
Shylla suggested that ISBT at Mawiong or IIM, Umsawli, should instead be used as testing centers.
She also demanded shifting of roadside vendors to Fire Brigade, Students’ Field as the risk of ‘community transmission’ of the virus has increased drastically.