All districts should take equal responsibility to deal with COVID-19: Pijush Hazarika

KOKRAJHAR: Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Pijush Hazarika on Sunday visited the quarantine centres in Kokrajhar to take stock of the situation. Hazarika was accompanied by Rajya Sabha MP Biswajit Daimary. He visited the quarantine centre at SAI, Kanthalguri and Bodofa Cultural Complex, both in Kokrajhar town. He collected detail data of returnees from various parts of the country.

Talking to media persons, Hazarika said that the people of the State, who were returning home from different States of India either by National Highway or by train were being screened at Srirampur inter-State check gate and Kokrajhar Railway Station by medical team and taken to quarantine centres for COVID 19 test. He said that the State had created five quarantine zones, Kokrajhar, Guwahati, Tezpur, Jorhat and Silchar for medical examination, of which nine districts fall under Kokrajhar zone that include Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Chirang, Bongaigaon, Barpeta, Goalpara, Baksa, South Salmara and Nalbari.

"The returnees of nine districts from various parts of the country by train or by road are taken to quarantine centres in Kokrajhar district after thermal scanning and they are sent back to their respective districts if found negative," he said, adding that 2, 300 returnees were in quarantine centres in Kokrajhar till Saturday but some of them were being sent back to their home districts. When asked whether the government had taken any measure to create quarantine facilities district wise, Hazarika said that steps were being taken to do so as quarantine centres in Kokrajhar lacked beds to accommodate the large number of returnees. He said that everybody should fight the deadly coronavirus pandemic and the government had no intention to create apprehensive situation by setting up quarantine centres in certain districts but all districts should take equal responsibility to deal with the situation. He also said that quarantine centres were set up in every district but on technical ground the zones had been created.

Hazarika said that there were some shortcomings in quarantine centres in Kokrajhar and these would be solved. He said that the government would take all necessary steps for safety of people adjacent to quarantine centres and appealed the people to maintain social distancing. On the Governor's Rule in BTC, Hazarika said that the matter was in court and he did not want to give any comment on it. Rajya Sabha MP Biswajit Daimary said that there was fear and apprehension among the people of Kokrajhar district, following the setting up of 19 quarantine centres where hundreds of people returning from various parts of the country were being kept. He said that the government of Assam had discussed the matter and was likely to take the returnees to their respective district quarantine centres for medical examination. Meanwhile, State Social Welfare and Soil Conservation Pramila Rani Brahma visited newly-set up quarantine centre at Kokrajhar Law College near DTO, Kashibari to assess the basic problems of the people taken there.  

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