Health dept creating stock of ppe, masks and sanitisersFight against COVID-19

GUWAHATI, March 25 - The State Health department is creating a stock of Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kits, masks and sanitisers to face any kind of situation that is likely to emerge in Assam in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, said a senior official of the department.

Meanwhile, sources also informed that the department recently replaced all old stocks of PPE kits available in different government hospitals with new supplies.

The senior official said that supply of PPE kits, N95 masks and sanitisers is already under way to every hospital of the State and new orders have been placed to continue the supply.

�We are supplying such items to every hospital on the basis of requirement. At present we have no scarcity of PPE kits, sanitisers and N95 masks. But if the situation deteriorates in the coming days then there is a chance of scarcity happening. So, we are preparing to face such a situation and new stocks will arrive soon,� the official said.

He also urged the people of Assam not to enter any hospital unless there is any emergency, as the hospitals can be the most dangerous place for novel coronavirus contamination.

�At present, we are prioritising only the emergency cases in the hospitals, because in Assam we are in a very crucial stage, as we have no capacity to build a hospital within a week like China. Self-confinement is the only way to stop the disease in Assam,� he added.

Another senior official of the Health department said that within the 21-day lockdown, the situation is likely to come under control in Assam.