COVID-19: 50,000 rapid testing kits expected by Monday : Jiribam goes under complete lockdown

By Our Staff Reporter
IMPHAL, Jul 4: Jiribam district has been put under complete lockdown after 28 cops and VDF personnel were confirmed positive for COVID-19. Effecting the lockdown, curfew has been imposed in the whole of Jiribam till July 15 allowing only essential services and inter-State goods carrying  vehicles to pass Jiribam gate.
Passenger vehicles will not be allowed to enter the district after midnight of July 5, said an order issued by Chief Secretary Dr J Suresh Babu.
The order of the Chief Secretary came after a meeting of the State Consultative Committee on COVID-19 presided by Chief Minister N Biren Singh today.
Besides putting the district under complete lock- down, the meeting had decided to carry out mass testing in the district to contain the virus spread.
The district will now also have a COVID Care Centre to accommodate and treat COVID-19 patients effectively.
The meeting also discussed the possibility of opening Ima Markets after completion of the ongoing repairing works, said sources.
Regarding the cluster infection detected at Jiribam police station, it may be noted that an Assistant Sub-Inspector who was on duty during the recently concluded evacuation mission, was first confirmed positive for the virus. After he tested positive, swab samples of other personnel were also collected and later 27 of them including several VDF personnel tested COVID-19 positive.
The decision to lockdown the whole of the district was taken as some of the cases (out of the 27) detected later had no contact with the ASI who was the first to test positive, said sources adding several places where they visited have been declared as containment zones.
Stepping up COVID-19 screening activity and security, it has been decided that only trucks carrying goods will be allowed to ply in the district, said the sources.
As tension has gripped the district following the detection of 28 COVID-19 cases in the last 48 hours, earlier, Deputy Commissioner W Malemnganba Chenglei had declared 17 areas as containment zones, reports our correspondent from Jiribam.
Effecting precautionary measures, the Jiri Ima Keithel Chaokhat Thourang Lup had also shut markets in the district. The Lup has also demanded the Government to station adequate trained health staff in the district, said our correspondent.
Meanwhile, the Government has ordered as many as 50,000 rapid testing kits after getting nod from the ICMR. Each rapid test takes about 15 minutes  only. The test kits will arrive by Monday, said sources.
Chief Minister N Biren Singh also launched manipurcovidstories.org, a platform to share COVID-19 related stories and track volunteering activities in the State during the consultative committee meeting.
The web portal features crowd-sourced stories collected from people who have recovered from COVID-19, volunteers who work at quarantine centres, NGOs, CSOs and medical professionals among others. The stories are segregated in the form of texts, photo features and videos.
Speaking through a video message, N Biren said that the platform will act as a source of positivity and showcase such stories that will reflect the perseverance and determination of the people of Manipur in fighting the global pandemic. He also appealed to the people to share their inspiring stories pertaining to the fight against COVID-19 pandemic through this website.
He further appreciated the efforts of all those who are involved in the fight against the deadly virus due to which so far there hasn’t been any case of fatality in the State.
IPR Minister Th Biswajit Singh, CAF&PD Minister Karam Shyam, PHE Minister Losii Dikho, Forest and Environment Minister Awangbou Newmai, Chief Secretary Dr J Suresh Babu, DGP LM Khaute, Principal Secretary (Health) V Vumlunmang, Directors of RIMS & JNIMS attended the meeting.
The website, conceptualised and designed by Fluorescence Communications, is being managed by the Department of Health and Family Welfare.