Renowned doctors of the State today unanimously suggested the Government to extend the duration of lockdown in Jharkhand to avert possibility of further spread of coronavirus infection in the State. The doctors said that social distancing and use of masks is the right way to safeguard people from the deadly disease.
The doctors expressed their opinion during a meeting with Chief Minister Hemant Soren at State Secretariat here on Wednesday, where the CM praised the efforts of doctors in the war against the pandemic and said that their role in the battle would be decisive in the State.
The CM said, “You all have a big role in the fight against COVID-19. Your suggestions will play a big role in this war. The government has strengthened social security in this phase of transition, but we are somewhat behind in health facilities and resources. We have to decide together how to produce better results with limited resources. Resources are less but we have immense confidence to fight the battle.”
The doctors informed the CM that the prices of medicines have increased and the government should pay attention to this. The CM assured the doctors that black marketing will be stopped by the government.
All of you should inform the government from time to time, so that the government can take tough decisions against those who commit black marketing,” he said.
The CM said that lockdown is a challenge in Jharkhand, which everyone is facing. “Lockdown is being followed completely in rural areas, but in urban areas people are not following it completely. About 7 lakh people of the state are stranded in other states including Maharashtra, Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu. In such a situation, when the stranded people come after the lockdown, then we have to face a different challenge. The State government is trying its best to help the trapped people. After ending the lockdown in the State, after assessing the circumstances, the government will decide to end or continue,” the CM said.
Dr. Amar Kumar Singh, Dr. Pradeep Kumar Singh, Dr. Bharti Kashyap, Dr BP Kashyap, Dr. Iqbal, Dr. Sanjay Kumar Jaiswal, Dr. Vijay Mishra, Dr. Rajesh Kumar, Dr. Nitesh, Dr. PN Singh and other physicians put their suggestions in the meeting.
Dr Bharti Kashyap suggested providing special security to women doctors’ teams that are visiting hotspot areas in the wake of protests by locals. She said that ICMR has permitted Rapid Antibody Testing to all NABL accredited laboratories. All hospitals should get their employees tested because hospitals are the biggest hotspots. In a couple of days private labs in Jharkhand will get test kits, which is a good screening test.
Dr. B. P. Kashyap suggested discharging patients soon after the operation and the government employees are being given full salary by the government, they should also make strict rules for the duty in the hospital, because even after the whole salary many staffs are absent and hospital work is greatly affected.
The meeting was attended by Health Minister Banna Gupta, Chief Secretary Sukhdev Singh, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Rajiv Arun Ekka, Health Secretary Dr. Nitin Madan Kulkarni, OSD to CM Gopalji Tiwari, Press Advisor to CM Abhishek Prasad, RIMS Director Dr DK Singh, IPRD Director Rajeev Lochan Bakshi, Senior Private Secretary to Chief Minister Sunil Srivastava, doctors and representatives of private hospitals.
