Be prepared to welcome returnees — Patton

Our Correspondent
Wokha, June 3 (EMN): Deputy Chief Minister Y Patton on Wednesday urged the people not to panic and stigmatise the returnees to the district at the same time not to take the novel coronavirus 'lightly.' This was his second visit to Bhandari Primary Health Centre (PHC) and Merapani (Maraju) in Wokha district to take stock of Covid-19 preparedness.

"Returnees from various states across India will come to the state frequently," Patton said and informed the people to be more prepared as the new standard operating procedure (SOP) order dictates that returnees would be sent off to their respective districts. "We must have enough quarantine centres to accommodate returnees in the state," Patton said.
The minister encouraged the people to focus on agriculture and farming as people must 'not always depend on the government.'

He also informed that the state government is gearing to install cold storage facilities in every district to assist the farmers.

Patton said that INR 280 crore is being sent to other states for importing pigs to the state of Nagaland, adding that people have to focus on livestock.

He said that the short lockdown of Bhandari check gate was due to the spike in Covid-19 cases in the neighbouring state of Assam .Therefore, he called the people to remain vigilant as well as remain patient for the short period.

Patton also extended financial assistance towards PHC Bhandari, Lotha Lower Range Public Organisation (LLRPO), Merapani village council and Merapani Students' Union.

During the visit, the people from the area and Merapani civil society organisations informed him that some PHCs in the area were running without medical officers.

On being queried about the road construction between Wokha and Maraju, Patton informed that the construction of the road was funded by the Central government, and thus it would be worked on accordingly.

Deputy Commissioner of Wokha, Orenthung Lotha shared on the new SOPs and informed the people not to disseminate wrong information. Meanwhile he extended gratitude towards the civil society and the people for remaining vigilant and proactive to contain the spread of the virus.

An update from the chief medical officer said that 91 people had returned to Wokha district as of June 3.