Coronavirus: Assam government sounds high alert, medical teams deployed along international border
Guwahati/IBNS: The Assam government on Saturday sounded high alert across the state after the first case of deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19) detected in Bhutan who visited Assam before leaving for the Himalayan nation.
On Friday Bhutan Prime Minister’s Office confirmed the report and said one case of COVID-19 was confirmed at 11 pm on March 5 and the result was validated at 12-30 am on March 6.
According to reports, the patient is a 76-year-old from United States of America and he had entered Bhutan from Paro International Airport, after embarking DrukAir flight KB241 from Guwahati in Assam on March 2.
The US tourist spent few days in Assam and took a 7-day Brahmaputra river cruise before leaving for Bhutan.
The state government has identified as many as 127 people who have come in contact with the US tourist and they are being quarantined.
Assam minister of state for health Pijush Hazarika said, “We have identified all hotels, resort and the particular cruise where he stayed. We have also identified as many as 127 people who had come in contact with him and they are being quarantined.”
“The US tourist reached in Jorhat on February 22 and left to Bhutan on March 2. We are very serious over it. Till now no positive case has been identified in our state. We are seriously monitoring the overall situation. The entire floor of the hotel in Guwahati has been isolated where he stayed,” the Assam minister said.
He also said that, one more foreign tourist is being quarantined at Tezpur in Sonitpur district and took his blood sample yesterday.
The Assam minister further said the state government has taken preventive measures in all the land ports bordering with Bhutan, Bangladesh and deployed medical teams in the areas and screened all people coming from the neighbouring countries.
According to the reports, as many as 585 people have been screened in six airports of the state.
Pijush Hazarika said that, out of 585 people, 265 people have been screened at Guwahati airport, 222 at Dibrugarh, 21 at Raroia airport in Jorhat, 7 at Silchar, 25 at Lilabari airport in Lakhimpur and 44 at Salanibari airport in Tezpur.
He also said that, out of these people 112 passengers came from outside of India like China, Thailand, Hong Kong, Dubai, Singapore.
(By Hemanta Kumar Nath, Guwahati)
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