Correspondent
State Health minister, S Pangnyu Phom Wednesday said the oxygen generation plant, which is being installed at Naga Hospital Authority Kohima (NHAK), would become functional within a week’s time.
Interacting with the media persons during his visit to the plant here, Phom said it was important for the government machineries to be ready for any situation that could arise. He said there was enough oxygen in stock sufficient for the time being, adding that after the under-construction plants become functional it would help meet the requirements.
In the first phase, oxygen generation plants would be installed in Kohima, Dimapur and Mokokchung and subsequently in the rest of the districts under various programmes, Phom said.
Asked why the state government was not considering lockdown when new cases were rising by the hundreds, Phom said containment zones declared by respective district task forces were similar to lockdowns.
Also, responding to a query on the current pandemic situation, Phom said the second wave was very different from the first as new cases were rising every day. He, however, said that the government was trying its best to control the situation.
On the availability of resources, Phom said that the government was serious in its effort to handle the situation and had mobilised resources to combat the pandemic.
In a message to the public, Phom urged the people to be disciplined and judiciously follow all the SOP issued by the government and health department.
The minister later visited the site earmarked for cancer hospital in the vicinity of NHAK.
One of the engineers working at oxygen plant site informed that after necessary installations and the testing of air quality the plant would be able to generate a total of 4.32 lakh litres of oxygen in a day.