- Abhijit Nath, NET Correspondent, Tripura
Amidst rise of COVID-19 cases, the Tripura Government on Sunday has imposed night curfew from 9 PM to 5 AM starting on January 10 which will continue till January 20 next throughout the state.
The council of ministers under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb on Sunday afternoon held a special cabinet meeting concerning the surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in Tripura at Chief Minister’s official residence here in Agartala.
In a press conference at Civil Secretariat here in Agartala city on Sunday evening, the Cabinet spokesperson, who is also the Information and Cultural Affairs (ICA) minister Sushanta Chowdhury said “Two crucial meetings were held on Saturday and Sunday under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Kumar Alok with officials of various departments and Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb with the council of ministers, respectively”.
“Elaborate discussion took place in the meeting about the sudden hike of COVID-19 cases among the people of Tripura and measures initiated to contain the spread of Coronavirus across the state”, he added.
The Minister said “The Health department had issued an order that all passengers entering Tripura through Airport, railway stations and checkpost shall undergo COVID-19 test at the respective locations irrespective of COVID-19 negative report or having final certificate of vaccination. It is mandatory”.
Predicting the rise of positive cases, Chowdhury said “Scientists and health experts in Tripura had projected that the positive cases may rise more than 32,000 cases and among them, about 1,617 are likely to be severe patients i.e. 5”.
Reacting to queries on escalating risks among children on getting infected with the deadly virus, the minister said “A total of 3,880 children might get affected in the third wave and among them, 194 may be of severe cases. To curtail the rush from various districts, facilities of 216 beds with ICU facilities are available in Agartala while 50 beds in each district are arranged for children.”
Citing the availability of beds in Tripura, the Minister said “All districts will have COVID call centers and redressal cells. In the state, there are 2500 beds and among them, 700 beds are allotted for COVID patients while 330 beds in West Tripura district. If there is a requirement, the number of beds can be increased and there is facility”.
Sharing the details about the other health infrastructures, Chowdhury told reporters “At present, 22 oxygen plants are functional across the state and sufficient stock of medicines is available. A total of 1,729 oxygen concentrators, 2,263 oxygen cylinders, 2,391 pulse oximeters and 193 ventilators are available. Health department to recruit about 500 to 700 doctors, nurses, MPWs, sweeping staff, etc on contractual and emergency basis”.
Tripura government appealed to people of all sections to follow COVID-19 Appropriate Behavior (CAB) and cooperate with Health staff at Airport, railway stations and check posts.
The Tripura Disaster Management Authority under the Revenue department on Sunday issued a notification mentioning “In view of the initial signs of surge in cases of COVID-19 as well as increased detection of the Variant of Concern (VoC), ‘Omicron’ in different parts of the country, the situation has been reviewed in detail by the state government and it is felt necessary to modify Corona restrictions in the state”.
Accordingly, Night Curfew has been imposed throughout the state from 9 PM to 5 AM with effect from January 10 to January 20 next.
All District Magistrates (DMs) shall issue a detailed order on corona curfew under section 144 CrPC with specific conditions for compliance. All violations are liable to be proceeded against as per provisions of section 51 to 60 of Disaster Management Act, 2005, besides legal section under Section 188 Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other legal provisions as applicable.
Aiming to tackle the COVID crisis in the state, the Health department is leaving no stone unturned in providing good services to the common masses of Tripura.