'Harsher restrictions in Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia to follow if the situation doesn't improve'
STAFF REPORTER GUWAHATI:
What If No Proper Home Isolation Facility in Residence: From Monday next institutional quarantine for COVID-19 patients ageing over 50 years is a must for those who have no proper isolation facilities in their residences.
By isolation facilities, the government means to say isolated living rooms and toilets for COVID-19 patients. The State Government is taking such a move as over 50 per cent of the COVID-19 deaths in the State are of 50+ people.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma reviewed the COVID-19 infrastructure at the GMCH (Gauhati Medical College and Hospital) on Friday. Talking to the media after the review, Sarma said, "The question of lockdown in the entire state doesn't arise now. However, if the situation doesn't improve in Guwahati, Dibrugarh and Tinsukia in the next seven days, harsher restrictions are on the cards.
"The fatality rate of the Indian variant of the virus is very high. Now we've decided on mandatory institutional quarantine for COVID-19 patients aged over 50 years if they don't have facilities for separate living rooms and toilets. The institutional quarantine will be either in hospitals on in COVID care centres."
The Chief Minister instructed the Health Department to provide oximeters to poor COVID patients in home isolation and to activate the telemedicine system more vigorously for COVID-19 patients. He also asked the department to keep 100 additional ambulances ready for immediate transportation of COVID patients to hospitals.
Chief Secretary Jishnu Barua also expressed concern over the alleged violation of home quarantine rules. In an order issued on Friday, he said that now on identification marks in the form of posters will be pasted in front of houses used for home quarantine, and such posters will be removed when the quarantine periods are over.
In his order, the Chief Secretary said that "there have been reports that some COVID-19 patients in home isolation don't maintain COVID-appropriate behaviour and end up spreading the infection among others. Therefore, it is necessary to put an identity mark on places where such patients are self-isolated or quarantined for the larger interest of the community," he said.