The Youth Forum for Protection of Human Rights (YFPHR) has urged Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh to urgently look into the issue of lack of manpower and resources at institutional quarantine centres in the state.
In a letter addressed to the chief minister, the rights group stated that after gathering information from various healthcare workers, members of district administrations and security forces, it has been found that the quality of the institutional quarantine centres needs to be improved.
The forum urged the chief minister to intervene and increase the numbers of healthcare workers such as doctors and nurses at the quarantine centres so that frontline workers do not have to work overtime and to prevent stress and unwanted health problems. This could be curbed by appointing more healthcare workers on contract basis, it said. This arrangement will be helpful and will encourage in contributing more to combat the deadly disease, it added.
To prioritize the returnees who are mother with infants, pregnant women, differently abled persons, and people who are undergoing treatment or medication with live saving drugs, their swap samples for the test should be collected prior to others so as to avoid inconveniences to them, the YFPHR stated.
Due to lack of awareness at the community level, the local people are apprehensive of having a quarantine centre near their residences or in their village or locality, it said. The Forum urged to assign healthcare workers, who are not directly engaged with patients at the quarantine, to conduct more awareness on this issue.
The YFPHR also urged the state government to provide them permit to reach out to the communities while adding that their proposal was never accepted. Due to lack of manpower within the district administration, the management is found to be overburdened and stressful, it stated. Therefore, the recruitment for contractual staffs will be in need to manage the disasters during this COVID-19 crisis, it added.
