A CORRESPONDENT
BISWANATH CHARIALI: With COVID control in tea gardens the top priority of the Biswanath district administration at present, Deputy Commissioner Pranab Kumar Sarmah has issued a strict order to all tea garden managements asking them to ensure proper medical care for all COVID patients admitted at COVID Care Centres (CCCs) within the garden areas. He also warned them of 'stern action' if they showed any negligence in this regard.
"All tea estate managements are hereby directed to ensure proper medical care of patients kept in garden CCCs. Any negligence shown in this regard will be viewed very seriously and stern action will be taken," the Deputy Commissioner wrote to tea estate managements.
Currently, there are around 43 CCCs inside tea gardens and around 120 COVID infected patients are presently undergoing medical treatment in them. "The COVID situation in tea garden areas is precarious. The administration is putting its best and working 24 hours to bring the situation under control as early as possible. We will not tolerate any negligence on the part of any tea garden managements with regard to medical care to COVID patients at their CCCs or hospitals. If I happen to come across any case of negligence, I will act tough," said Sarmah. He has also instructed executive magistrates of the district to pay regular visits to the CCCs in tea garden areas and inspect them, including the quality of the food served to patients. Aggressive testing, isolating the infected patients immediately and vaccinating the whole tea garden population above the age of 18 are currently the prime focus areas of the administration.
The vaccination drive across tea garden areas has also been significantly ramped up in the district. Around 1,200 persons are being vaccinated on a daily basis in tea garden areas since June 21. The number of tests too has been scaled up and around 600 tests on an average are being conducted daily with the objective of isolating the infected ones at the earliest. Out of the total population of around 1 lakh residing in tea garden areas of Biswanath district, around 32 percent have been inoculated against COVID-19 by now.