SHILLONG, May 14: Senior Congress leader, Ampareen Lyngdoh, on Friday said that the COVID-19 situation in Meghalaya is in complete disarray even as she suggested that the government should rope in an expert to review the scene in state.
Talking to reporters, Lyngdoh expressed horror over 627 fresh cases and 12 COVID-related deaths in the past 24 hours, which were reported on Friday.
The legislator pointed out that the number of oxygen beds, as per official figures, is only 387, while adding that 197 of them have been occupied by COVID-19 patients who are reportedly in a critical condition.
The situation is not looking good with only 397 oxygen beds for 4,000 active cases, opined Lyngdoh, who also lamented that the positivity rate in Meghalaya as on May 13 is 17.5 per cent.
Replying to a query, the Congress MLA said that she does not think the government has been complacent in the strict sense of the word.
“I just feel the government did not imagine that we could be hit this hard. Now they don’t know what to do next when the situation is getting out of control,” Ampareen stated.
Pointing out that there is a deficiency of ideas, Ampareen stated that there is a need to turn to an expert’s advice forthwith, while suggesting that someone from the epidemic department can step in and review the COVID-19 situation in Meghalaya.
“We should not wait for a stage where other states like Delhi, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh have gotten into,” Ampareen said.
Meanwhile, she also advocated for a virtual meeting between MLAs of the most-affected regions and government officials.
“We need to have a Zoom meeting and put our heads together. Let the Opposition, government, bureaucrats and Health department come together and find out ways to deal with the situation. We need to come up with an out-of-the-box idea,” maintained the MLA.
