No COVID-19 positive case in Assam so far: State Health and Family Welfare Department

MoUs signed with 22 Silchar private hospitals

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: There is no COVID-19 positive case in Assam so far, said sources in the State Health and Family Welfare Department.

Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is at Silchar where the State Health Department signed MoUs with 22 private hospitals and nursing homes for absorbing the patients of the Silchar Medical College and Hospitals (SMCH) for two months, initially. Similar MoUs were also signed with private hospitals and nursing homes of Guwahati and Dibrugarh.

So far, as many as 62 private hospitals and nursing homes have been roped in through MoUs by the department. The GMCH (Gauhati Medical College & Hospital), the AMCH (Assam Medical College & Hospital), Dibruagarh and the SMCH have been kept ready exclusively for the treatment of coronavirus patients.

Talking to the media, Sarma said, “As many as 250 ICUs (intensive care units) with ventilation facilities have been kept ready for coronavirus patients in the State. As of now, while the department has 10,000 PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) kits with it, 50,000 other such kits are being ordered from Hong Kong. The department also has 13 lakh triple-layered masks and nearly one lakh N95 masks with it.”

A quarantine centre with a capacity of 1,000 people is coming up at Sarusajai Stadium in Guwahati. Construction work of this centre is being carried out on a war footing.

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