Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi Asks to Intensify RAT & RTPCR Testing in State

Governor takes stock of COVID situation

GUWAHATI: Instruction to Increase RAT & RTPCR Tests: Assam Governor Prof. Jagdish Mukhi today took a comprehensive review of the prevailing COVID situation in the state and called for widespread testing both RAT and RTPCR and adherence to strict quarantine mechanism to arrest the surging cases of the pandemic.

Taking stock of the COVID situation through a video conference in Raj Bhavan today with Chief Secretary, Director General of Police, Principal Secretary Health along with others, Prof. Mukhi said that taking into consideration of the surges in positive cases, testing and quarantine mechanism should be made more strict and intensive. He said that after the sudden rise in positive cases, though the State government has intensified testing across the state along with strict adherence to institutional quarantine mechanism, infrastructure has to ramp up further to handle the increased case load.

He, however, said that during the first wave of the COVID pandemic, when Assam exemplified its best practices to effectively contain the infection, this time around with the leadership of the Chief Minister Dr.Himanta Biswa Sarma, state would definitely script victory against the pandemic with minimum loss of lives. Taking stock of the treatment facilities including ICU beds, oxygen beds, oxygen concentrators, stock of oxygen and odd hour treatment management, the Governor though expressed his satisfaction, said that if the people at large cooperate in following COVID appropriate behaviour, the positive cases in the state can be arrested.

The Governor also advocated for testing, tracking and treating strategy very comprehensively to bail the state out of the scourge of COVID with minimum loss of lives. He also asked the Health Department to start testing facilities in places where people generally assemble like markets, bus stands etc apart from the existing places like train stations, airports, hospitals etc. He also asked DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta to intensify the guard in railway stations in cooperation with the Railway authority so that no passenger can escape COVID test.

The Governor also took stock of the testing facilities at Assam-West Bengal borders at Srirampore and Chagalia. He also asked Principal Secretary Health and Family Welfare to augment the testing facilities and quarantine facilities at the interstate borders.

Prof. Mukhi moreover, asked DGP to sensitise his forces along with VDP to strengthen the community surveillance especially in the rural and tea garden areas to avert the spread of the contagion in the rural areas. He said that strict monitoring would reduce the chance of the infection from spreading. The DGP apprised the Governor that special care has been taken to vaccinate all the police personnel. Massive miking is also being done to motivate the villagers and tea garden workers to take vaccination.

Chief Executive Officer, ASDMA, Gyanendra Tripathi gave a power point presentation on the present situation as well as ASDMA's activities on COVID-19 management. He apprised the Governor on the SOPs applicable in the rural and urban areas.

The Governor asked the Chief Secretary to ensure that in the midst of COVID pandemic the supply chain of essential commodities should not hamper. He also asked Principal Secretary Agriculture Rajesh Prasad to maintain optimum level of production and distribution of farm products and ensure that the farmers are able to sell their produce and consumers have access to affordable and nutritious food. He also informed that steps have been taken for a State level committee to identify the surplus pockets of farm produce to facilitate supplies to the deficit pockets so that farmers get justified value of their agriculture produce.

The Governor exhorted on the need of adopting the best and viable practices for the management of novel Coronavirus in the state. He also asked the concerned officials to put their men and materials on duty for encouraging the people around to adopt adequate precautions.

Chief Secretary Jishnu Baruah, DGP Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta, Principal Secretary Heath and Family Welfare Anurag Goyal, Principal Secretary Home and Political Neeraj Verma, Principal Secretary Food and Civil Supplies Biswaranjan Samal, Principal Secretary Panchayat and Rural Development Dr.J.B.Ekka, Principal Secretary Industries and Commerce K.K.Dwivedi along with other senior officers were present during the virtual meeting.

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