NONGPOH, June 3: Leader of Opposition, Dr Mukul Sangma, has said that the home isolation protocol and the delay in hospitalising patients have resulted in high COVID-19 mortality rate in Meghalaya this year.
The former chief minister said this during his visit to Maternity and Children Hospital (MCH) in Umran and Nongpoh Civil Hospital on Thursday.
After taking stock of COVID-19 treatment facilities at the hospitals, Mukul said the facilities available there are not sufficient enough to save lives of patients afflicted with COVID-19.
Today, we visited the MCH hospital in Umran and the work is still on. Hopefully, they should expedite the core process of finishing work on the infrastructure. The only facility which is available in Ri Bhoi is the one at the Civil Hospital as far as treatment for COVID-19 patients is concerned, he said.
Mukul said that if the work on these facilities would have been ramped up, more lives could have been saved.
The Opposition leader also blamed home isolation protocol and delay in hospitalisation for alarming COVID-19 fatalities.
Stating that hospitals, too, with right kind of intervention, play a pivotal role in saving lives, Mukul maintained that only having medical facilities is not going to save lives unless people possessing the know-how of operating such equipment are signed up for the task.
Accentuating the need to revamp the stratagem to combat COVID-19, he appealed to one and all to be cautious and ready for any possible third wave.
“Even if we cannot prevent it (third wave), we should be able to prevent the severity so that we do not end up losing more lives,” the Opposition leader said.
With regard to the COVID-19 caseload, Mukul said the numbers may be higher than what is being reported.
“It may not be the correct picture as there are inputs that indicate that cases in rural areas are increasing. The real picture will come out if only people in rural areas come forward to get themselves tested,” Mukul said.
