Home quarantine violators jeopardize safety of residents in Bokajan

A Correspondent

Bokajan: At a time when the entire world is battling a severe crisis in wake of the coronavirus pandemic, violation of home quarantine guidelines seems to have become a major cause of concern for the residents of Bokajan town in the hill district of Karbi Anglong.

Baruah, a resident of Bokajan, is worried about his family and other residents as a migrant worker, who had recently returned from the South Indian state of Kerala; is not following the home quarantine norms and is loitering around, putting the life of other residents at risk of exposure to the deadly virus. Several such cases and complaints of similar instances are causing fear and apprehension among residents in the industrial town of Bokajan and its suburbs.

The Bokajan Health department estimates that around 540 people who have returned to Bokajan in the past couple of days, have been properly screened and stamped for compulsory 14 days home quarantine. The practice of affixing stamps on the palms of the returnees to identify them for home quarantine began a couple of days back. However, over the weekend, hundreds of people, including migrant labours, have returned home from corona hotspots like Kerala, Maharashtra and Delhi, among others cities.

The administration and policing machinery have ensured proper compliance to the 21-day lockdown but they are having a tough time getting returnees to follow the home quarantine rules as many who have returned from COVID-19 hotspots are yet to report to the competent authorities.

The Bokajan Fire Service department has been carrying out a sanitization drive across the town since Wednesday. All establishments which have been exempted from lockdown, like police station, SDO office, banks and others, will be sanitized in the first phase.

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