COVID-19: NEIGRIHMS nurses stage protest over lack of PPE kits, govt to fix responsibility

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJune 16, 2020

The state government has decided to intervene into the alleged failure of the authority of the North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) to provide adequate protection to its nursing staff dealing with COVID-19 patients.   

This came after the nurses under the banner of the NEIGRIHMS Nursing Association staged a black flag protest inside the institute premises on Tuesday.

Christina, who is the secretary of the association, alleged that the hospital authority has failed to provide required quarantine facilities and personal protection gears or PPEs to the nursing staff who are dealing with COVID-19 patients.

“We are working with COVID-19 patients and yet we are being sent home (instead of providing us with a quarantine facility) where most of us have minor children and elderly parents. We feel that we may be carriers and are exposing our family. We therefore, demand the Centre and state governments to provide us adequate PPEs and to ensure nurses are quarantined in a proper way,” she said.  

Taking cognizance of the allegation, Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong told reporters that the state government will intervene into the matter.

“We will intervene and we will also fix responsibility if there are such lapses,” he said. Tynsong however said that he could not believe that a premiere institute like NEIGRIHMS would do such a thing. “If lapses are there, action has to be taken as per directives issued by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare,” he assured.