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Meghalaya Congress accuses state government of 'surrendering' over COVID third wave

Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Ampareen Lyngdoh asserted the need for the government to immediately review the situation and take several important and key actions in as far as COVID-19 is concerned.

ByNNN/Shillong

Updated 17 Jan 2022, 10:23 am

(Image: Unsplash)
(Image: Unsplash)

 

The opposition Congress in Meghalaya has accused the state government of surrendering by leaving it to the people to fight against the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

“As of now anywhere in India, the government is working hand in hand with different communities and different heads but in Meghalaya, they have totally surrendered, they have left it to the public now,” Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC) president Vincent H Pala told reporters.

“Whoever gets it (Covid), it is up to them and how they isolate themselves. This is totally a failure on the part of the government,” he added.

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Pala also warned that if the spread is not properly controlled, it will have a big setback on the state and the people forcing the government to re-impose lockdown.

He, however. maintained that the Congress does not support imposition of lockdown as the economic activities of the people have already suffered.

“Therefore, we request the government that it should handle the situation in such a way that it will be with the support of the public and that it should not impose on the people rather they should also give compensation to the people who work at the ground level. Government has to come out with more stringent measures on this issue so that people do not suffer much,” he said.

On the other hand, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Ampareen Lyngdoh asserted the need for the government to immediately review the situation and take several important and key actions in as far as COVID-19 is concerned.

“We are saying that the SOP again can be very confusing for the public. We do not see any review of or spot inspections or surprise inspections of government agencies even in the streets. You walk out in Police Bazaar today and you see how many people are actually wearing the masks, how many people are actually wearing safe masks, are they wearing double masks if they  don’t have N95 – so these lapses can have far reaching implications on the public,” she said.

Expressing concern over the sudden surge in the number of COVID-19 cases, Lyngdoh said, “Now the government can say that okay omicron is not as lethal but we have now seen in cities where omicron hit first that they are slowly getting into the lockdown situation.”

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She also said that testing at this point of time is still questionable. “I am told that even in Umling which is the main entry point to Meghalaya, testing is not taken very seriously by the government,” she added.

Urging the government not to wait for a crisis like situation but to take action immediately, the CLP leader however said they have not seen the institutioning of quarantine centres.

“Now most of these individuals are going home and they have been advised to stay home and that again is causing a big problem because many individuals don’t know exactly what they need to do. We are asking somebody who has been tested positive to remain at home in isolation and if there is no supervision or no checking by the government, this situation could go out of hand,” she warned.

Asserting that vaccination is an important component in fighting against Covid, she said the government needs to inform the schedules for the booster dose as it has gone ahead with vaccination of 15-18 years old and the response of the public.

 

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Meghalaya governmentmeghalaya congresscovid-19 meghalayathird wave

NNN/Shillong

NNN/Shillong

Newmai News Network, Shillong, Meghalaya

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