Dedicated COVID-19 hospital Looking at 3 figure mark

    02-Jun-2020
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A 100 bedded dedicated COVID-19 hospital to be set up within 10 days time. This was Chief Minister N Biren while addressing the media on May 31 wherein he announced that the lockdown would be extended in the State till June 30. No details spelt out, such as where the dedicated 100 bedded hospital would come up but it may be safe to surmise that the Chief Minister meant an already existing structure, which may be changed into a hospital at a very short notice and obviously 10 days time is a very short time.  Ten days time given on May 31 and one may take this to mean that by the widweek of June, Manipur may see a hospital solely meant for patients infected by the virus that causes COVID-19. With the number of positive cases increasing with each passing day, the dedicated hospital is surely what Manipur would need and the sooner this is realised the better it would give shape and substance to the stand of the Government to take the fight to the virus. This is about the hospital and this is where focus will shift to the men and women in white who will be at the forefront to treat the people down with the virus. And this is where the Government would need to take the suggestions of the people who will be working at the hospital and not just those who may sit at some other office and decide how the hospital must be equipped. Time that due weightage is given to the ideas and suggestions from the men and women who will be there in the forefront to treat the people infected with the virus.
Manipur is already knocking at the door of the three figure mark and it will just be a matter of a few days to reach the figure of 100. This is where serious thoughts may be given to the possibility of beefing up the testing capacities in the State. Are the two testing centres put up at RIMS and  JNIMS sufficient ? Are the two units able to stand up to the demand of the time, where more and more people are expected to arrive in the next few days as well as those who are waiting to be tested ? Along with the opening of a dedicated hospital to treat COVID-19 positive people, it would help immensely if the testing capacity is beefed up too. Setting up yet another testing unit at the proposed dedicated hospital will be in line with what the State needs at the moment. With Manipur having already crossed the 80 mark and trailing behind Assam which has over 1300 positive cases as well as Tripura which has crossed the 300 mark, the North East region can expect to be up there amongst the region where the virus infection is high. Nagaland too is following Manipur with over 40 positive cases. The Government must have worked out the likely number of positive cases that Manipur may see in the coming days and it is only right that all future works are taken up keeping in mind the likely number of positive cases in the State. At the moment it is a little over 80 but how many positive cases can Manipur expect in the next one week ? All work must be taken up keeping in mind the probable number in the next few days. And remember there must be a reason why many experts had predicted earlier that June may well be the peak season for the virus.