Mizoram has been among the least affected states in India. However, the effective mitigation measures and impactful strategies adopted by the state are worth appreciation. To throw light on the Mizoram’s approach to tackle COVID, Dr C Vanlalramsanga, Secretary, Department of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, Government of Mizoram joined in a webinar with Elets Technomedia.
Initiatives Taken
Dr Vanlalramsanga, “The state has been fortunate to have less number of cases when compared with other big states. However, the government is still taking all the possible preventive measures to break the chain of transmission of the Coronavirus.”
“Our state government has been proactive in tackling the Coronavirus. Even before the effect of COVID-19 was visible in the country, in January, we did a public appeal to make people aware of the virus”, he said.
“We started thermal screening of the people coming from Myanmar and Bangladesh borders on February 4. At that time nowhere in the country, the thermal screening was done”, told Dr Vanlalramsanga. Also, starting from the month of February, the people coming from Europe or other countries were made to home quarantine in the state, he added.
Challenges
“There was a time when we felt that we must airlift the PPE kits from other states. Hence, Mizoram became the first state to airlift the PPE kits in a dedicated aircraft. The aircraft was dedicated for the cause as a precautionary measures”, mentioned Dr Vanlalramsanga.
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Preparations for Pandemic
Speaking on preparations Dr Vanlalramsanga said, “Many of the migrants are returning back to the state. Also, people from foreign countries are coming back. We expect around 15,000 people to return back. The exodus has already started and we are prepared with all precautionary measures for it.”
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“Our proactive functioning was because of our active and well-educated leaders and also people’s participation strengthened our efforts”, he added.
Adding on, he said, “Before the Centre announced the nationwide lockdown, we already had implemented the same in the state…We have nine taskforce and two committees who are all coordinating for mitigation of the pandemic.”
“Furthermore, we have a 3-tier system for COVID mitigation – state-level task force at the apex; district-level task force; and village-level task force”, told Dr Vanlalramsanga. All three tiers are working coordination and constantly taking measures to mitigate the crisis, he added.