ITANAGAR, March 31 - As the country is currently under a 21-day lockdown to break the transmission chain of the highly contagious COVID-19, the Arunachal Pradesh Government has propped up all its resources to fight the pandemic.
State-run helicopters have been put into service to deliver rations to people living in far-flung areas, which are yet to be connected by roads. The first such helicopter sortie was made to Vijaynagar today and another five sorties have been planned for the week.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu today stated that all 26 DCs of the State have been given funds to tackle the current situation. Each DC has been provided Rs 12 lakh from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), totalling Rs 3.12 crore to deal with the pandemic, a CMO release stated here.
A separate fund of Rs 1.30 crore has been released from the Chief Minister�s Relief Fund to all the SPs to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, the release said.
Further, in order to empower the district administrations to fight against the pandemic, funds under the Mukhya Mantri Rogi Kalyan Kosh (MMRKK) amounting to about 15 crore have been released to all 26 districts in the State. The MMRKK guidelines have been relaxed to the extent that 80 per cent of the funds at the disposal of the districts can be used for procurement of medicines, consumable items and equipment.
The remaining 20 per cent will be utilised for conducting health camps and engaging doctors, retired doctors, paramedics, retired paramedics and contingency staff for the next three months.
Meanwhile, the State Government, in order to strengthen the public health system and ensure concrete preparedness against COVID-19, has appealed to retired health professionals to volunteer for reserved staff to supplement the current human resources and staff shortages in the State. Interested health professionals have been requested to contact the Director of Health Services at Naharlagun.
�With the steep rise in the number of COVID-19 cases everywhere, proper precautionary measures have been put in place in the State. The Frontline Response Team deployed all over the State is dealing with COVID-19 suspects for which PPE (personal protection equipment) has been supplied. A total of 10,000 N-95 masks from HLL, 300 VTMs from the ICMR and 30 thermal scanners reached the State today and their distribution is under way,� the CMO stated.
A special chartered flight is being arranged by the State Government from New Delhi to Guwahati on Wednesday to ferry essential medical equipment like surgical masks, PPE with all accessories and other items.
