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Nagaland’s eastern districts require more medical inputs against Coronavirus
Health workers of the district hospital of Kiphire interact with community members about the Coronavirus.
Our Reporter
Dimapur, April 4 (EMN):
As Nagaland continues building its bulwark against the pandemic Coronavirus or Covid-19, intensive care units (ICU) and ventilators are becoming one of the crucial medical instruments required in hospitals to treat severe cases of Covid-19 or any critical ailment.
The challenging times created by the pandemic have highlighted the severe shortage of the respiratory device in Nagaland particularly for the eastern districts of the state such as Tuensang, Mon, Longleng, and Kiphire.
The district hospital of Tuensang was the only hospital in the eastern region that had a 4-bed ICU. However, the ventilators at the hospital reportedly have ‘mechanical failure.’ The district hospital of Kiphire has a similar woe with no ICU or ventilators.
On being contacted by Eastern Mirror, the chief medical officer (CMO) of the district hospital of Kiphire, Dr. E Motsuthung Patton said the district hospital does not have the luxury of an ICU and ventilator. Fortunately, there are no positive cases of the virus or else it would have been a task for the medical team there. Also, he said there was only one ambulance for the district, which is not sufficient and that at least one ambulance was needed to cover the district.
It was informed that the district’s establishments have no basic facilities like those in Dimapur and Kohima or other districts. There is the district hospital, but not a single private health centre.
Therefore, it is tasking for the medical team, add to it shortage of manpower. The hospital received 40 personal protective equipment, which again isn’t sufficient.
Further, the health official informed that the old district hospital’s building had been converted to a Covid-19 hospital with 13 beds for the isolation ward. A boys’ hostel has been designated a quarantine while an INR camp, about 10 mt away from Kiphire town, has been designated a quarantine for medical staffers.
The district has four primary health centres, two community health centres, and 23 sub-centres. But with the poor condition of the road accessibility to the district is difficult especially for the areas bordering Myanmar.