A total of 1600 people have been put under home quarantine in upper Assam’s Dibrugarh as precautionary step against coronavirus (COVID-19).
According to health official, those people kept under mandatory 14-day home quarantine are mostly travellers who have recently returned from other parts of the country by flight or rail.
A team of doctors are monitoring the day to day health reports of the quarantined persons.
Nabajyoti Gogoi, nodal officer of the joint director of health services, Dibrugarh said, “We have put 1600 people under home quarantine in Dibrugarh district. They have arrived from other states by air or rail.
“Some of them have returned from states where there have been COVID-19 cases. Their health condition are being monitored daily. We have tested 110 samples at ICMR-RMRC Dibrugarh and all have turned out negative for novel coronavirus,” he said.
Principal of Assam Medical College, Hiranya Kumar Goswami said that in view of the threat posed by the novel coronavirus, special arrangements have been made at the medical college hospital especially for COVID-19 patients.
“We have readied two facilities for COVID-19 patients. One is a 200-bedded room at the newly built cardiology department building. Another is at the medicine department with 104 beds.
“As many as 31 ICUs have been kept ready for COVID-19 patients. As of today there are three patients at the isolation ward. They were admitted after showing symptoms akin to the coronavirus. Their reports are awaited,” Goswami said.
Dibrugarh police are taking the help of drones to monitor the situation in the town during lockdown.
On Friday, three persons were taken into custody by the police for violating lockdown rules.
The district administration has advised people to maintain social distancing and not overcrowd the grocery shops which have been permitted to keep open from 9 am to 2pm.
To prevent overcrowding in shops, the district administration has authorized a few departmental stores of the town to provide doorstep delivery of foodstuff and essential goods to customers ordered through phone calls.
