Revised SoP for COVID-19 screening, management of armed forces in Arunachal

OUR CORRESPONDENT

ITANAGAR: The Arunachal Pradesh government has decided to go for a revised standard operating procedure (SoP) for COVID-19 screening and management for Army, Central Para Military forces besides National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Border Roads Organization (BRO) personnel.

The decision was taken during a virtual meeting convened by Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday to discuss the COVID-19 management and screening strategy of the state with respect to the Army and Paramilitary forces, an official communiqué informed.

A revised standard operating procedure for COVID-19 screening and management for the Army and paramilitary personnel was decided to facilitate smooth operation at the district level for effective COVID-19 management in the State, the communiqué said.

As per the revised SoP, the forces will have their own quarantine facilities and conduct rapid antigen tests of all returnees as per the protocol developed by the State Health department and Indian Council of Medical Research (IMCR).

All the armed forces will appoint nodal officers for Arunachal Pradesh for on-ground coordination with the Commissioner (Home) who is the nodal officer from the State government and the district-level nodal officers will be appointed for the purpose.

The State government has assured to extend all support and facilitate testing of all returnees of the forces by Rapid Antigen Test and RT-PCR and TrueNat test and offered to provide training to the medical team of the forces for conducting medical screening, the communiqué said.

Khandu lauded the team spirit and camaraderie between civil administration and the forces and offered full support from the State government.

"Attended a meeting today through VC with the Army & Central Armed Police Forces for improved coordination in fighting #COVID19 in the State. Health of our Jawans is paramount as security of our borders can't be compromised. Thanks to Army & Central Forces for their cooperation," Khandu later tweeted.

The meeting was attended by Health Minister Alo Libang, Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar, Commander 3 Corp, Commander 4 Corp, DG NDRF, ADG ITBP, ADG BRO, IG, CRPF and senior officers of the State government and Assam Rifles, the communiqué added.

There are 654 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), while 334 people have recovered from the disease and three died of the infection so far in the State.

More than 200 personnel of armed forces, including Army, Assam Rifles, Border Road Task Force (BRTF), National Disaster Response force (NDRF), Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITPB) and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) were infected with the virus in various parts of the State.

The ITBP reported 54 cases; the NDRF has 53 cases followed by Army (36), CRPF (32), BRTF (16) and Assam Rifles with two cases, since the virus infection spread in the northeastern State.

A total of 31 positive cases were also reported among the State police personnel.

Also watch: Minister Reviews Flood Readiness for Guwahati