Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu said the state government will invest Rs. 400 crore in the next two years for infrastructure development and procurement of medical equipment in the state’s health sector.
Khandu said this while addressing media persons at the civil secretariat in Itanagar on Wednesday.
Khandu said the policy of testing, treating, and tracking has been successful in containing COVID19.
He said the recovery rate in the state is 61.7% and the testing is being conducted in all districts.
Khandu said the 300-bed dedicated Covid19 hospital at Chimpu will be functional by August 10.
An officers’ mess has been ordered to be used as the Covid Care Centre, which has 100 beds and has the capacity to accommodate 500 beds, he added.
“Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the state government has recruited 350 nurses and 50 more remain to be recruited,” Khandu said, adding that the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) will be installed in Pasighat in a month.
The State Cabinet has approved 40 more ambulances which will be soon brought to the state, he added.
Requesting the people to maintain all the standard operating procedures and stressing on wearing masks, the chief minister said that the state is fortunate not to have had any community transmission of the virus apart from localised spread.
“We have started testing people through Rapid Antigen in almost all districts and the government is taking all possible measures to stop the virus from spreading,” Khandu said.
“As a cure for the virus may take time, we have to learn the art of living with it,” he added.
Khandu also said the Dedicated Covid Health Centre at Midphu will be inaugurated on August 7.
Arunachal Pradesh health minister Alo Libang and health secretary P Parthiban accompanied the chief minister during the press conference.