NONGSTOIN, June 16: Leader of Opposition Mukul sangma, on Wednesday, visited West Khasi Hills to get a firsthand view of the preparedness of the district to tackle the pandemic.
Mukul opined that facilities available at Nongstoin corona care centre were not sufficient to save the lives of COVID-19 patients with serious conditions.
Besides the deficiency of health infrastructure, the Opposition Leader stated that the government has lost focus as far as allotting manpower to the corona care centre is concerned. The government cannot send health workers to war without proper equipment and without manpower, Mukul said.
Delving deeper into his observation, Mukul Sangma said that there is no provision for an ICU at Mairang, while adding that the Mairang corona care centre is only capable of treating patients with mild conditions.
Getting back at Nongstoin, the district headquarter of West Khasi Hills, he said that Nongstoin corona care centre has not prepared any ICU either, as per the inspection.
Stating that Nongstoin can, however, ready the ventilators with the help from the Health department, Mukul cautioned that the situation was serious in Mairang corona care centre, which lacks facilities to treat C & D category patients.
He also said that Civil Hospital Nongstoin does not have an ambulance fitted with basic life support or advanced life support system which is a much-needed asset in these times.
The Leader of the Opposition also suggested the state government to conduct a research on the higher fatality rate in East Khasi Hills in comparison with West Khasi Hills and Garo Hills region, which, Mukul stressed, should be interpreted from a scientific perspective.
