Health & Family Welfare (H&FW) principal director (PD) Dr Neikhrielie Khimiao has expressed concern over Covid-19 spreading to rural areas, even as Kohima and Dimapur districts witnessed a slight decline of cases in recent days.
Interacting with a section of media persons at his office chamber here on Wednesday, Khimiao said a surveillance team has been put in place to work at different levels like district hospitals, community health centres, public health centres and even sub-centres to work out modalities and carry out contact tracing, vaccination and even to mobilise staffs to get the right figures. And based on surveillance team’s report, medical experts would swing into action he added.
On the allegation by NPF, he said people always point their fingers and claimed that since the first wave of pandemic last year until now, the government provided sufficient medicines and equipment, including surgical items, to all districts. And to take stock of the situation during the second wave, he mentioned that a team led by senior officials of the H&FW department had been constituted to visit each district and see if there were any shortfalls.
Khimiao further claimed that, perhaps barring few items, no districts had run out of medicines and other lifesaving drugs as everything was made available to the districts.
Admitting that the areas of concern were manpower management, oxygen supply, vaccination and essential drugs availability, the PD said the department was also concerned over the virus spreading in rural areas, for which the surveillance team was being geared.