Silchar, May 18: Minister of Health and Family Welfare Keshab Mahanta on Tuesday informed that the State Government is taking steps to romp up infrastructure facilities at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital(SMCH) to combat the challenges posed by COVID-19 pandemic.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of his visit to SMCH alongside State Excise and Environment Minister Parimal Suklabaidya Silchar MP Dr Rajdeep Roy, Cachar Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli, Mahanta said " even as the COVID-19 curve has shown signs of a slight decline in the country, cases are on the rise in the state for which we must lower guards and stay prepared. We have decided to enhance the number of beds to 460 including 40 additional ICU beds to stretch the capacity of ICU beds to 140 at the SMCH. Also, we will set up another couple of oxygen generation plants and two more liquid medical oxygen plants at the earliest. The funds will be released in the next few days while concerned department would be given the task to accomplish the task at brisk pace."
It may be mentioned that realising the fast saturation of the ICU beds authorities of SMCH have identified the space for the proposed 40 ICU beds. Already two oxygen generation plant each having capacity of producing 500 litres per minute are installed at the hospital, sources informed.
As per sources, Environment and Forest, Excise and Fisheries Minister Parimal Suklabaidya took part in the meeting and asked the administration to set up camps for Covid testing in tea gardens in the district. In this context, the Health Minister said that instead of home isolation, Covid Care Centers could be arranged in tea gardens. Silchar MP Dr Rajdeep Roy asked the administration to take steps to ensure continuous supply of essential commodities in the tea garden areas.
Deputy Commissioner, Cachar, Keerthi Jalli made a power point presentation and proposed to construct a dedicated water line to ensure adequate water supply at the Medical College Hospital 24 hours a day. The Health Minister assured that appropriate steps would be taken in this regard. Further, the Deputy Commissioner informed that a total of 4,721 people have been identified positive in the district so far. Of these, 2, 663 are male and 2058 female.
3,186 people have been treated and cured so far. At present there are 1,502 active Covid patients in the district. Of these, 1,139 are in home isolation and 363 Covid patients under treatment in hospital. So far, 20,534 people in the district and 2165 people have been identified positive through RT-PCR test. So far 17,719 people have been tested under Rapid Antigen, out of which 2,656 people have been identified positive.
The Deputy Commissioner also pointed out that the infection rate was 3.3 per cent.
