Health emergency clamped on Bhatkal town to enforce lockdown measures
Assam shifts general patients from government hospitals to private nursing homes, converts medical colleges into corona hospital, closes vegetable markets to enforce social distancing during lockdown.
Assam plans to build five 300 bedded temporary hospitals with public contribution.
Guwahati: Assam government on Friday declared the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital as exclusive isolation Centre for the treatment of coronavirus infected patients besides deciding to withdraw exemption given to vegetable markets to function as hundreds of people crowded the vegetable markets on Friday violating the guideline of lockdown to maintain mandatory social distance.
Informing that all the patients from Guwahati Medical College and Hospital, except maternity, cancer and emergency wards will be shifted to 36 private nursing homes, Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters, “We have signed MoU with 36 nursing homes to take the load of patients going to GMCH for two months so that the GMCH could be converted into an exclusive hospital for Coronavirus infected patients.”
Admitting that state is yet to get any patient of corona infection, the minister said that they are leaving no stone unturned in preparing for the impending threat of coronavirus spread in the state.
Lauding the private nursing homes for volunteering their premises for handling the flow of patients in government hospitals, the minister said that government would pay these nursing homes for two months according to charges fixed by national health authority.
Announcing to set up five 300-beded hospitals with ICU and ventilator facilities in next 60 days, the minister said that these hospitals would be constructed with pre-fabricated infrastructure which will have its life for four years. “We are going to raise these infrastructure at the cost of nearly Rs. 200 crore. We will be able to create four such hospitals with various contributions like government employees are contributing one day salary and MP local area development funds committed by MPs from Assam,” said the minister while informing that they are going to start intensive training of nearly 1000 doctors and paramedical staffs from Saturday to prepare them for handling the coronavirus patients.
Stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed the states to prepare for any eventuality after the outbreak of coronavirus in the state, the minister said that situation was very critical. “We are keeping our finger crossed and preparing to handle Italy and America like situation,” he said.
Admitting that it was a wrong decision to allow vegetable market to function, the minister said that government has again closed all the vegetable markets and decided to deliver it by some different mechanism as social distancing of the people is the top priority.
