People are scared of testing because they fear admission in hospitals, alleges Sushmita Dev

August 6: On 4 August, Deputy Commissioner, Cachar Keerthi Jalli appealed to the people of the district to come individually and voluntarily and get tested for COVID-19. She said, “Please don’t panic. More number of positive cases is good in the sense that with more detection, people can be put under isolation, which will help in curbing the further spread of coronavirus. So my request is, please all of you come forward for testing, cooperate with our team and don’t hesitate.” Taking a dig, Former Silchar MP and President of All India Mahila Congress, Sushmita Dev said that people are scared of testing because they are afraid of the condition prevailing in the hospitals.

Sushmita Dev sharply criticised the present state of affairs in the hospitals of Cachar. In a social media post, Sushmita Dev wrote, “Administration wants to increase testing in Cachar. Testing is the only way to detect & isolate positive patients to slow down the spread of the virus but people are scared of testing because they fear admission in hospitals.”

She further wrote, “There are ways we can change this situation. I made some demands yesterday (4 August) to improve facilities in Cachar & it will encourage people to test. More significantly non-COVID patients have to be given timely treatment. I suggested allowing private clinics to test & treat corona negative patients which will help save lives.”