Reports of lack of ambulances to ferry Covid-19 patients are pouring in from various parts of the state. First it was the health officials of the Itanagar capital region who raised concern over lack of ambulances. Now it has emerged that the health workers of Kamle district are also facing a lot of trouble because of the lack of ambulances. The unavailability of ambulances has forced the doctors to use their own personal vehicles to collect samples for antigen tests in district headquarters Raga. This is an utter shame and has truly exposed the health department.
Despite its tall claims, day by day the health department is truly getting exposed. It seems to only act when a crisis hits. When it was aware of the unavailability of ambulances in the state, what took it so long to place orders for 30 ambulances? Health Secretary P Parthiban recently informed that the orders had been placed in the month of May, which is quite shocking. These orders should have been placed in March itself, when the pandemic started to hit the country. The health department is still struggling to put together a proper infrastructure in the ICR to fight Covid-19. It seems they were sleeping in the last four months. The state government should wake up before the situation turns grimmer. So far, most of the Covid-19 positive cases are asymptomatic and therefore the state has been spared from a major health crisis. But remember, the situation might turn bleak anytime. Get the act together before the crisis hits the state hard.