JAIPUR: Rajasthan Labor Minister Tika Ram Julie has strongly opposed Central government’s plan to bring Coronavirus suspected Indian citizens, who have been brought back from China, to the ESIC Hospital in Alwar.
While speaking to reporters in Alwar, Tika Ram Julie openly expressed his opposition to the Centre’s plan, 'It's very unfair to bring citizens who might be infected by a disease which has been declared an epidemic by the World Health Organization to Alwar. I have been asking the central government for six years that this hospital, built at a cost of 1000 crores should be run effectively or it should be handed over to the state government. However, the central government did not run this hospital but now they want that victims of the Coronavirus epidemic should be brought to Alwar.'
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The Labor Minister further said that this decision could even lead to spreading of the deadly virus in Alwar and said he will take this issue up to higher authorities.
It is to be noted that the central government has set up an isolation ward at the ESIC Hospital in Alwar in which Indians living in China will be staying for 14 days.
Already, 300 Indians have been airlifted from China to protect them from being infected by the deadly Coronavirus.
Special arrangements have been made in the Isolation Ward at the Alwar hospital. A total of 19 doctors and 33 nursing staff from Medical Colleges in Jaipur, Udaipur and Jhunjhunu have been specially posted to the ESIC Hospital in Alwar.
A team of specialists from the Health and Labour ministries in Delhi had visited the Alwar hospital on Friday and inspected all the facilities in the Isolation Ward.
Sources say the Centre’s plan is to keep Indians brought from China for a '14-day observation' at the Alwar Hospital but if anyone is found a confirmed Coronavirus patient, she will be referred to the local general hospital.
As Dr Ravi Sharma, Co-ordinator PRO says, 'No Coronavirus affected victims are being brought to Alwar.