June 7, 2020

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Nagaland Post

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Vol XXX No. 181

DIMAPUR, SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2020 Pages 12 ` 5.00

Why the worst locust attack in decades has invaded North India

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State COVID cases cross 100-mark 8 tested negative: 7 males & 1 female, all Chennai returnees Staff Reporter

DIMAPUR, JUN 6 (NPN): COVID-19 positive cases in Nagaland broke the 100mark when the tally rose from 94 to 107 after results on Saturday confirmed that 13 more were tested positive for COVID-19. Out of 107 cases, 8 have recovered, bringing the active cases to 99. Informing this, Health & Family Welfare minister S. Pangnyu Phom in his tweet Saturday also informed that the eight positive cases admitted at COVID-19 hospital Dimapur had tested negative in the second test. Pangnyu tweeted “Very delighted to share that 8 patients admitted at COVID19 hospital, Dimapur were tested negative for COVID19 in second test. They have been shifted to COVID-19 Care Centre and they are under the process of discharge for home quarantine under active surveillance.” As per the information,

Over 1500 more expected to arrive state

DIMAPUR, JUN 6 (NPN): A special Shramik train with around 1500 stranded citizens of Nagaland and 34 from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh were expected to arrive on June 8. In his tweet, commissioner & secretary, who is also the chief nodal officer (inter-state movement), Dinesh Kumar said around 1500 persons from Nagaland stranded in Gujarat and Maharashtra is expected to arrive by the special train on June 8 morning. He also informed that a special bus sponsored by Nagaland government carrying 34 stranded persons of Nagaland including an infant departed Bhopal Saturday afternoon. They are expected to arrive Dimapur June 8 evening. So far, around 8000 people have arrived Nagaland from various parts of the country.

COVID – 19 POSITIVE STATUS AS OF 4:00 PM, 6TH JUNE 2020

AsympRecovCOVID HOSPITAL tomatic ered cases Dimapur DH Kiphire DH Kohima NHAK Kohima Chedema Longleng DH Mokokchung IMDH Mon DH Peren CHC Jalukie Phek DH Tuensang DH Wokha DH Zunheboto DH State Total

76 0 4 12 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 0 98

8 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8

Symptomatic cases Critical TOTAL ICU ICU Moderate Severe (On Ventila- (Non-Venti- CASES tor) lator) 0 0 0 0 84 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 107

Mild 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

DISTRIBUTION OF CASES BY DOMICILE DISTRICT District

Kohima

Dimapur

Mokokchung

Phek

Zunheboto

Tuensang

Mon

Number

5

9

0

1

0

7

23

of eight who have recovered, seven were males and one female. A doctor informed Nagaland Post that all of them were returnees from Chennai and had responded well to the treatment. All patients were kept in the COVID-19 Care Centre, Tourist lodge and after observation, they will be sent to their respective home districts. Currently, 76 COVID-19 positive (asymptomatic) patients are admit-

ted at District COVID-19 hospital Dimapur. As reported, Dimapur COVID-19 designated hospital remained in dire need of doctors and nursing personnel and also TrueNat testing machines as Dimapur was dealing with maximum number of COVID positive cases. PHED minister, Jacob Zhimomi, legislator in charge of Dimapur district for COVID-19 related activi-

Wokha Kiphire 5

4

Longleng

Peren

Total

0

53

107

ties, emphasised on the urgent need of more medical personnel in Dimapur. He also suggested requisitioning doctors from less burdened districts. Jacob also reiterated the decision of the state cabinet to convert Tourist lodge Dimapur into COVID Hospital in view of the shortage of hospital facilities. Results of 1340 awaited: Health department in its daily bulletin, informed

Travelling returnees shop and litter Staff Reporter

DIMAPUR, JUN 6 (NPN): Reports of stranded returnees travelling in buses to various quarantine centres, breaking journey to buy items from roadside shops or throwing left over food and other items along the way has raised alarm among public. In one incident, a woman, owner of a shop, including another male helper were reportedly sent to a quarantine centre in

Kohima. This happened on Saturday when a bus carrying returnees from Bengaluru enroute to a quarantine centre, stopped near the shop at the start area of Seikhazuo. The returnees reportedly got down and to buy items from the shop. In another incident, returnees travelling in one bus, threw left over food items and trash on the roadside at VK town on Saturday. According to media reports, local bodies have expressed

strong condemnation as the trash could have been touched by anyone infected with the virus. When quarantinebound returnees do not adhere to rules to avoid any social contact by stopping near roadside shops to buy items, or throw left over food item, the virus can also be spread from them. These incidents highlight the need to make it mandatory for deploying police escort in order to prevent such incidents.

(L) The bus stops for returnees to shop and (R) trash thrown at a roadside by returnees.

that till date a total of 3959 COVID-19 swab samples were tested, out of which 2512 have tested negative and 107 tested positive. The results of 1340 samples are awaited. Further, all 102 samples tested through the Truenat testing machine have turned out to be negative. With a huge backlog of swab samples yet to be tested, the need for more Truenat testing machine in Dimapur and Kohima has been aired by many doctors. The present BSL-3 set up in the NHAK has a capacity of testing 90 swab samples in a day. Some sampes have been despatched to other testing laboratories in Assam such as Dibrugarh. Meanwhile, the state cabinet during its meeting on Saturday was briefed on the COVID-19 situation by the Health & Family Welfare and the Home departments. The provisions of the SOP for the returnees to Nagaland and the measures being taken for further streamlining the entire management of the Quarantine Centres were also discussed. The Health department also briefed on the health status of the positive cases.

ENPO agrees to wait for JIC report on Tuensang fiasco

Correspondent

KOHIMA, JUN 6 (NPN): Eastern Nagaland Peoples’ Organization (ENPO) in a closed door meeting with the state cabinet led by chief minister Neiphiu Rio, Saturday agreed to wait for the outcome of the Judicial Inquiry Committee (JIC) report on the Tuensang fiasco. Interacting with section of media persons after the marathon meeti n g, E N P O p r e s i d e n t Kekongchim Yimchungru said they agreed, on the request of the state government, to wait for the report the JIC. H oweve r, h e s a i d ENPO had sought a written assurance from the government that there will be no extension for the committee to probe the matter, as was practised in the past. (Cont’d on p-8)

Trudeau kneels at anti-racism protest INTERNATIONAL, PAGE 9

Road projects affected due to lack of workforce

Staff Reporter

DIMAPUR, JUN 6 (NPN): Nationwide COVID-19 lockdown, which led to massive reverse migration across the nation, has adversely affected construction projects across the country and Nagaland is no exception as the state now faces huge dearth of workforce. Like the rest of the country, major constructions in Nagaland came to a halt after nationwide lockdown came into effect. Though the centre permitted resumption of constructional work, the contractors are faced with new problem—lack of labourers. On June 5, Raj Bhavan Kohima Tweeted that Governor, RN Ravi, reviewed the work progress of projects undertaken by National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL). Governor regretted that the progress has “come to a near halt”. When contacted by Nagaland Post, Raj Bhavan sources confirmed that the governor reviewed all the NHIDCL highways projects in Nagaland. Sources said the state officials present at

the meeting included principal secretary home and Nagaland commissioner besides contractors. According to sources, the governor lamented that road projects were “limping because of no workforce”. It was learnt that workforce consisting of both skilled and unskilled had mostly gone back to their home states and were unlikely to return anytime soon. At the meeting, the governor was informed that machineries and construction materials were lying idle and contractors were unable to bring labourers from Assam as local workforce was not available. Governor had reportedly directed NHIDCL to publicise their workforce requirement and their wages in Nagaland media and also on their website. Sources said NHIDCL was prepared to even train some semiskilled local workforce at their cost. The requirement of workforce for all the projects in the state is about 1200 and Dimapur-Kohima four-lane alone required about 250, it was learnt.

Tax demand issue ‘amicably’ solved DIMAPUR, JUN 6 (NPN): Pertaining to the May 20, 2020 tax demand on TK Motors, the High Power Committee (HPC) representing GPRN/NSCN and Public Action Committee (PAC) representing all tribal hohos, Dimapur; Naga Women Hoho Dimapur; Chakhro Angami Kuda Union (CAKU) and Business Association of Nagas (BAN) held a meeting on June 3, 2020 and after a long discussion, both the parties have “mutually agreed and solved the case amicably.” At the meeting, the organisations also shared that the Naga public “desires for a solution as the delay was taking a huge toll and the public burden have become more unbearable.” A “mutual agreement” signed by advisor to collective leadership (HPC) Ke c h a n g u l i e A n g a m i ; PAC convenor Vekhosayi Nyekha; secretary PR & NGOs (HPC) Moa Walling; CAKU president Zelhou Ziekhrü and BAN president Vitho Zao stated that the meeting “concluded with a better understanding and agreed to be more people friendly.”

Over 500 lodged at Ganesh Nagar QC Correspondent

KOHIMA, JUN 6 (NPN): The state government on Saturday informed that the facilities/buildings at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) Ganesh Nagar, Dhansiripar under Dimapur district was now being used as a quarantine centre. Around 500 returnees have been lodged at Ganesh Nagar. It was learnt that some facilities/buildings inside the SEZ was reportedly given on lease to a private party. The issue was brought to light only after the government started to renovate the infrastructures to use it as a designated quarantine centre. Talking to media persons here, deputy chief minister Y. Patton, accompanied by principal secretary Home, Abhijit Sinha, said that the government was not aware of the MoU/agreement to lease the area to the private party. On the other hand,

QUARANTINE FACILITY RULES & REGULATIONS

Sinha said that even if it was leased, that does not stop the state government to use Ganesh Nagar as a quarantine centre. Police quarantine centre: The state cabinet during

its meeting Saturday decided to setup a “police quarantine centre” (detention centre) at Ganesh Nagar for those violating safety guidelines and QC rules, Patton stated. (See table- guidelines)

NDPP slams NPP’s ‘misinformation, personalized attacks’ Mkg: Ao MLAs donate TrueNat test machine DIMAPUR, JUN 6 (NPN): Reacting to National People’s Party (NPP) Nagaland unit’s scathing attack on the state government through an open representation to chief minister, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive

This is it!

“Remember how I used to sing in Sunday school? I think the lockdown is leading me to sing again.” K Y M C

Party (NDPP) Saturday said the representation was “packed with negative criticism, misinformation and personalised attacks”, which it described was “totally unbecoming of a responsible political party”. NDPP said that the NPP, instead of appreciating the good works of all agencies working tirelessly for the people, had tried to politicise the pandemic crisis in the “most irresponsible manner”. It said that NPP leaders were “obviously unaware” of the various activities of the state government and the tremendous efforts being made by the government machineries. NDPP said it was a time to motivate and encourage each other and not try to gain cheap political mileage by making “unfounded allegations and making personalised attacks in irresponsible manner.”

NDPP asserted that the state cabinet and chief minister were consulting health experts, senior doctors and experienced administrators in overcoming the challenges. Describing NPP unit leaders as the “high flying leaders”, NDPP reminded them to understand that the present global situation was a crisis of many layers. “While it is a medical crisis, it is also a humanitarian and logistical emergency that touches so many unforeseen sectors,” NDPP said, adding that all those sectors needed to be approached with reasonability keeping in mind ground realities. NDPP advised NPP leaders to look inwards and self-introspect instead of making wild allegations, which had “no basis, nor any content.” Further, it urged NPP leaders to first consider if it was “ethically and morally right for the head

of educational institutions, especially schools, to be political activists, leave alone being political party leaders.” NDPP termed as “unfortunate” that certain leaders on one hand were running educational institutions, which mould young minds, and on the other hand, making polarising statements that were unfounded and unbecoming of responsible citizens. NDPP, therefore condemned and rejected the demand of NPP for the leadership of the PDA government to step down. It maintained that PDA government and its leaders were democratically mandated and were running the affairs of the State on the basis of people’s mandate “unlike the NPP in Nagaland, of which the less said the better.” NPP leaders in Nagaland, the party said needed to understand the grassroots and not be driven by social media posts of

“fake conmen and fugitives on the run who are afraid to legally face the law.” Asserting that consultations with stakeholders, engagements with tribal leaders and NGOs in decision making and collective responsibility had been the mantra of PDA government, the NDPP has, therefore, requested NPP leaders to refrain from its attempts of polarisation and make attempts to be better informed before “making a fool of themselves in the eyes of the public.” It affirmed that PDA government would not leave any stone unturned in its efforts to serve the people with commitment and dedication. NDPP said the party and the government trust that the people were intelligent enough not to be swayed by “few unmandated and highflying persons living in their own paradise.”

DIMAPUR, JUN 6 (NPN): Cutting across party lines, 11 Ao legislators-- 10 from Mokokchung and 1 from Dimapur, donated a TrueNat testing machine for Mokokchung district. With this Mokokchung district now has two TrueNat testing machines. In a tweet, Rural Development minister Metsubo Jamir said “All 11Ao legislators joined hands across party lines to contribute a TrueNat Covid 19 testing machine with capacity to test 48 samples at once, for the people of MKG.” T h e m a c h i n e wa s handed over DC Mokokchung in the presence of Ao Senden president. Meanwhile, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had recently issued a revised guidelines for TrueNat, a comprehensive assay for screening and

(L) Metsubo Jamir handing over the TrueNat machine to DC Mokokchung, Limawapang Jamir. (Twitter)

testing for positive cases for Covid-19. As per the guidelines, all samples of Covid-19 suspect should be first tested by this assay, and later be subjected to confirmation by step 2. Step 2 is called RdRp

gene confirmation assay, and if the sample tests positive through this it must be considered as true positive. As for the negative samples, they must be considered as true negatives. No further testing is needed for them, it said. K Y M C


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June 7, 2020 by Nagaland Post - Issuu