Tejashwi urges Bihar govt to set up screening centres at

Welcoming the states social distancing measures, leader of the opposition in Bihar Assembly Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Saturday urged the government to set up screening centres at inter-state entry and exit points, airports and railway stations.

The state government, which held a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday, has ordered for closure of all schools, colleges, universities- both government and private, coaching institutes, cinema halls, parks, Patna zoo, museums till March 31 as preventive measures in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The state government also deferred Bihar Diwas celebrations scheduled to be held from March 22 to 24.

 

No coronavirus case has been confirmed in Bihar so far, Bihar Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar said after the review meeting on Friday.

Till date, 142 people have been kept under observation for suspected symptoms of coronavirus and out of them, 73 persons have been discharged.

Although implementing social distancing measures are a welcome step, with no health screening measures this closure order serves no purpose. I request the Bihar CM to aggressively set up screening centres at inter-state entry- exit points, airports & railway stations, Tejashwi tweeted on Saturday.

Specialized labs & isolation wards should be set up at all district headquarters. The government should make testing & treatment free, distribution of masks & sanitizers should be done, he said in another tweet.

Public Awareness about this pandemic should be maximized. Remember, Preparation is half the battle, he added.

The state government, however, has already taken several precautionary measures to strengthen the health infrastructure in the state to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

All government medical college and hospitals, including Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Patna and Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), Patna, will have additional 100 ventilators to tackle any emergency, the chief secretary said.

The testing kit for detecting the virus at present is available only at the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute, Patna, an ICMR centre, he said, adding that the facility of the test will also be started at AIIMS, Patna and PMCH and IGIMS, Patna.