Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal visiting Srirampur Screeing Camp camp at Gossaigaon in Kokrajhar district on May 6

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on May 6 directed for thorough screening of all people entering the state through the West Bengal border and keeping a strict vigil on all possible entry points, including waterways, to ensure no spike in cases when people stranded in other parts return.

Two patients, including the first detected COVID-19 case in the state, were discharged from hospitals on May 6 after complete recovery, taking the total number of cured to 34 in the state.

Nine active cases remained in the state, while one of the patients has already succumbed.

Visiting a screening camp adjacent to Srirampur gate in Kokrajhar district, Sonowal said the civil and police administration together should keep a tab on every entry point of districts to ensure that nobody can enter Assam without going through COVID-19 screening protocols.

He asked the police to keep a strict surveillance on some reported vulnerable points to thwart any design of unauthorized movement from the neighbouring state.

Deputy Commissioner at Kokrajhar, Partha Pratim Mazumdar, informed the chief minister that the district administration has ensured constant monitoring on all routes, including Sonkosh river to rout any design of people sneaking into Assam by swimming across the river.

He also said adequate arrangements have been made to screen the health status of drivers, handymen and others coming to Assam through Srirampur gate.

During the lockdown period as many as 32,887 goods-laden trucks have entered Assam.

Deputy Commissioner at Dhubri, which also shares border with West Bengal, Anantlal Gyani, informed the chief minister about the existence of 15 such vulnerable points. He drew the attention of the chief minister that the district administration has set up a quarantine centre at an area adjacent to Chagolia gate with all facilities to quarantine around 1000 people.

Meanwhile, Governor Jagdish Mukhi, while taking stock of the COVID-19 situation in the state, advised the Health department to effectively implement ‘contact tracing’ to arrest the rise of novel coronavirus infection in Assam.

Reviewing the mitigation measures adopted and led by the Health department in close coordination with other line departments of the state at Raj Bhavan in Guwahati, the governor said concerted efforts should be made to aggressively implement contact tracing to arrest the chain of transmission.

The governor said, “Since the state is allowed to have eased restrictions since May 5 and an anticipated further relaxation to strengthen its sluggish economy in days to come, an asymptomatic positive person may spread the infection to several others before he or she being detected as COVID-19 positive. So, we need to aggressively implement contact tracing to halt further progression of the virus and break the chain of transmission.”

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