Guwahati: Amid a sudden burst in COVID-19 cases in both Assam and Meghalaya, the latter state's Health Minister Al Hek has termed the situation in the former as "very alarming."
"The COVID-19 situation in Assam is very alarming. This is precisely the reason why we have imposed curbs in the bordering areas, and the bordering markets have also come under the scanner. There is content vigilance and the Government is doing its best to try and arrest the spread by certain steps such as imposing bans on the inter-district travel", said Hek, talking to The Sentinel Digital over the phone.
Talking about the rise in the instances of COVID-19 cases, Hek said that stringent measures are being taken to ensure that the chance of an outbreak is minimal. "Every protocol has to be followed. The BSF people who are coming from out of the station have been urged to follow the guidelines such as observing home quarantine. Inter-state travel has also been heavily restricted", he said.
"We are now assessing the situation while at the same time taking stringent measures to curb the number of COVID-19 cases. There is no cause for panic right now. We are taking stock of the situation and the Government is doing the needful right now", Hek remarked.
With the detection of dozens of COVID-19 cases in Meghalaya over the past week, the virus alarm has once again surfaced in Meghalaya, a state that has been plotting the exit from the lockdown for a long time.
However, with the steady and alarming rise in the number of cases -- especially among BSF jawans -- the state has once again found itself in the midst of a COVID-19 battle. At the same time, Assam is also facing a great challenge in flattening out the COVID-19 curve as the number of cases has clambered up at a rapid rate. Now, the death toll has also started rising rapidly, signaling at more challenging times ahead for the health administration.
With the addition of hundreds of fresh cases on a regular basis, the number of COVID-19 cases in the state has soared past 14,000. As on Friday midnight, the number of COVID-19 cases in Assam had reached 14,600, out of which 5,423 cases were active.