Dharamshala: On the occasion of International Nurses Day, which falls on 12 May, the Covid-19 task force committee of the Central Tibetan Administration extended its heartfelt gratitude to nurses around the world for their immense contributions to healthcare on a daily basis, especially during the pandemic.
Updating the Covid statistics of Tibetan community in India and Nepal, the committee member Ngawang Woeser reported zero Covid and quarantined cases in the past seven days. However, she urged everyone to remain practising social distancing, wearing masks and avoiding blocking up vents to prevent Covid and TB.
Thus far, 9,153 Tibetans were reportedly infected by the virus, from which 8,985 recovered and 168 succumbed to death.
Woeser, who concurrently works in the Department’s TB Control Program section, presented the Department’s schemes to reduce the incidence of TB morbidity and mortality in the exile Tibetan community. Despite the facilitation from the Government of India to TB patients under the National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme, health care facilities affiliated with CTA’s Department of Health also provide 75% fee concession for the new TB cases and 25-50 per cent discounts for the MDR TB. The Department further renders medical checkups for the asymptomatic TB carriers as well as hospitalisation and quarantine facility for the infectious TB patients at zero cost. During the Covid pandemic, DoH’s TB Control Program detected a few new TB cases in the Tibetan settlements after carrying out the guideline for bi-directional TB-COVID screening issued by the GOI.
Dr Namdol from Tibetan Delek Hospital highlighted the unpredictability of the virus and therefore appealed to Tibetans to remain adhered to Covid protocols, following brief updates on the worldwide Covid status.