Mizoram health minister Dr R. Lalthangliana on Thursday said there are no VIPs in the eyes of the government in terms of Covid-19 treatment.
He said that the government provides equal treatment to all Covid-19 positive patients irrespective of age, gender, status or class and society to which they belong.
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The health minister clarification came a day after opposition BJP alleged that the state government was setting up a separate Covid-19 Care Centre for treating VIPs, who were diagnosed with Covid-19.
“The government did not classify any category as VIP in view of treatment towards Covid-19 disease. All are equal in the eyes of the government,” Lalthangliana said.
He termed the allegation leveled by an opposition party that the government set up a separate Covid-19 Care Centre for treating VIPs as “baseless.”
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“A MLA hostel in Aizawl has been declared as Covid-19 Care Centre, which does not mean that it is being set up for VIPs. We have no VIPs in terms of treating Covid-19 patients,” he said, adding that the decision on who will be admitted at the MLA hostel rested with concerned authority.
The BJP on Wednesday blamed the Mizo National Front (MNF) government headed by chief minister Zoramthanga for allegedly setting up separate Covid-19 Care Centre to treat VIPs infected with Covid-19.
The party also accused the government of honouring a “VIP culture” at a time when the BJP led NDA government at the centre is doing away with the practice.
Accusing the government of being “bias” in its treatment towards Covid-19 patients, the BJP said, “While the BJP lone legislator Dr. BD Chakma is undergoing treatment at Zoram Medical College (ZMC), health secretary H. Lalengmawia, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday, is placed under home isolation.”
MNF is part of the BJP led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA) but it did not truck with the saffron party in Mizoram.
On Tuesday the government issued a notification designating a 28 bedded new MLA hostel at Aizawl’s Khatla locality as Covid-19 Care Centre with a remarks stating “for VIPs”. The order did not specify who VIPs are.
However, the government on Wednesday night issued a revised order re-designating the MLA hostel as Covid-19 Care Centre but dropped (removed) the VIPs tag.
Mizoram on Thursday reported 26 cases, including 20 locally transmitted cases, taking the state’s Covid-19 cases load to 1,506.
Meanwhile, 10 people have been discharged from Covid-19 Care Centres after they were declared “recovered” from the virus.
There are 557 active cases in the state while a total of 949 people have already recovered.
According to the health department, the recovery rate is 63 per cent.