Govt empowers Chief Medical Officer to recruit health workers
Kolkata: In a bid to face the challenges of the increasing number of COVID-19 infections among the migrant labourers, the state government has empowered the Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMoH) in all the districts so that they can recruit doctors, nurses and Health workers and also build up necessary infrastructure on the basis of the requirements in the respective districts.
The CMoHs in the districts have been given more power to handle the present situation which has become volatile in the districts recently after the returning of migrant labourers in huge number. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had already expressed her apprehension that sending back of the migrant labourers without proper check up could contribute to the Bengal's COVID-19 affected tally.
The number of infected patients has gone up manifold in the past three days.
Before the situation goes out of proportion, the state health department is trying to take all the preventive measures to check the transmission and also to build up infrastructure to meet any possible situation that may arise in the districts. According to sources more than 500 contractual health workers including doctors, nurses and microbiologists will be recruited in the district level by the CMoHs. More quarantine centers will also be set up in the districts so that suspected patients can be accommodated.
There are plans to make an arrangement of 9 more quarantine centers in nine districts across the state. The government had however faced oppositions from the local people from many places because of the stigma attached to the disease.
The Health workers and nursing professionals who will be recruited on contractual basis so that there are no lapses in the screening and testing of suspected migrant labourers who have returned to Bengal from outside states.
A huge number of migrant labourers who have returned to various districts like Malda, North and South Dinajpur, Murshidabad, Hooghly, North 24-parganas, Bankura and Purulia have tested positive for the virus recently. This has triggered a major concern for the health administration. Around 23 migrant labourers have tested positive for the virus at Deganga area of North 24-Parganas in past three days. More than 500 such labourers have recently returned to Deganga from Mumbai. The situation is nothing different in other districts.
"We have already given power to all the CMoHs to hire doctors, nurses and health workers on emergency basis to fight COVID situation. They can hire the manpower as per their requirements," said health secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam.
