JOIN USOnly institutional quarantine for incoming passengers, no home quarantine allowed: Assam govt
The Assam government Tuesday decided that home-quarantine will not be allowed to people coming from outside and they will be sent for institutional-quarantine, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said Tuesday, as the number of coronavirus cases rose by 95 to reach 643.
He said the state Cabinet stressed the need for strict quarantine of people coming from outside.
A meeting of the Council of Ministers, chaired by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, decided that quarantine norms would be strictly enforced in view of the spike in the number of positive cases in Assam, Patowary said after the meeting.
It was decided that people coming from outside will be sent for institutional-quarantine and no home-quarantine will be allowed, he said.
Meanwhile, the state reported 95 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, taking the total to 643, a day after its highest single-day increase of 156, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
Golaghat reported the maximum number of cases at 48, with 27 in the night and 21 in the morning, the Minister said.
"47 new cases of #COVID19+ reported. 21 Golaghat, 4 Lakhimpur, 8 Morigaon, Goalpara 3, Hojai 1, MMCH 1, Karbi Anglong 2, Nagaon 5, GMCH 2", the Minister tweeted in the morning.
He tweeted, "19 new cases of COVID19+ reported. 7 Karimganj, 5 Goalpara, 3 Guwahati, 1 each from Dhubri, Hailakandi, Udalguri, Lakhimpur",
"Two new cases of #COVID19+ reported from Nagaon", Sarma tweeted earlier in the evening.
Out of the total 643 cases, there are 574 active cases, four deaths, three migrated and 62 recovered and discharged from hospital.
Assam has recorded a huge spike of nearly 600 cases since May 4, after restrictions on road travel were lifted.
The spike in COVID-19 cases was expected to increase further with the resumption of flights from Monday.
Sarma said that the latest cases of increasing COVID-19 patients are mostly those who have returned to the state from outside.
The Minister has also clarified that swab samples are collected from people soon after they are arriving in the state, before they are transferred to the quarantine centres.
Most of the positive cases in Assam are imported and not home-grown, he said.
Meanwhile, thirteen flights have arrived and departed from Lokopriyo Gopinath Bordoloi International airport here with 1,409 inbound and 724 outbound passengers, an airport official said.
The health minister said he and his officials visited the Guwahati airport and the screening centre to review the preparations and ongoing work. "All passengers are being screened for #COVID19, and subsequently sent to their respective districts either in public or private transport", he tweeted.
Four repatriation flights are expected to land in Guwahati between May 27 to June 5, Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna said.
The flights scheduled to arrive next week are from Ukraine, Moscow, the Philippines and Kuwait, he said.