No Covid-19 death in Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Sikkim so far

‘Complete lack of testing facilities hampered the region’s efforts to combat the pandemic’

Eastern Mirror Desk
Dimapur, June 26 (EMN): Four north-eastern states of India — Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Sikkim – have not recorded any deaths from Covid-19 so far and the number cases was comparatively lower than the rest of the country, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said in an update on Friday.

Three Union Territories — Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep – too have not registered any deaths. In fact, no Covid-19 positive cases have been detected in Lakshadweep so far.

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s update at 8 am on June 26, the number of recoveries from Covid-19 in the Northeast stands at 5715, as against the current 3731 active cases in the region.

Covid-19 status in NE states according to MoHFW as of 8 am, June 26

The Union Health ministry admitted that there was “complete lack of testing facilities” in the region initially which affected the states’ efforts to fight the Covid-19 but the scenario has changed after the Centre pro-actively and strongly supported strengthening of the medical care infrastructure in the NE states.

“A critical pillar which hampered the efforts of the NE states in combating was the Covid-19 outbreak was complete lack of testing facilities. But today, because of the focussed attention of the Centre through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the NE has 39 testing labs in the public sector and three in the private sector, totalling to 42 labs,” the statement from Union Health ministry read.

Present status of laboratories in NE States

The update also stated that NE states suffered from an acute lack of dedicated Covid Hospitals, Covid Health Centres and Covid Care Centres before the Centre substantially supplemented the healthcare infrastructure across the region.

Present status of healthcare centres in NE States

“Also, government of India has supported the NE states in stepping up the number of ICU beds, Isolation beds, oxygen supported beds and ventilators. This has played a critical role in effective clinical management of Covid-19 cases,” the update read.

Present status of healthcare facilities in NE States

The Centre has also strongly supported the NE states to step up the availability of N95 masks, PPE kits and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) tablets in view of the fight against the Covid-19.

According to the update, Nagaland state has been given 0.7 lakh N95 masks, 0.25 lakh PPE kits and 1.75 lakh hydroxychloroquine tablets; Arunachal Pradesh- 1.21 lakh N95 masks, 0.66 lakh PPE kits and 1.5 lakh HCQ tablets; Assam- 3.37 lakh N95 masks, 2.01 lakh PPE kits and 6.7 lakh HCQ tablets; Manipur- 0.95 N95 masks, 0.79 lakh PPE kits and 2.7 lakh HCQ tablets; Meghalaya- 0.75 N95 masks, 0.52 lakh PPE kits and 1.75 HCQ tablets; Mizoram- 0.76 N95 masks, 0.31 lakh PPE kits and 2.2 HCQ tablets; Sikkim- 0.80 N95 masks, 0.52 lakh PPE kits and 0.25 HCQ tablets; and Tripura- 1.38 N95 masks, 1.13 lakh PPE kits and 2.5 HCQ tablets.