Covid-19: Assam tightens screening protocol; to take swab from all returnees

GUWAHATI: Assam has tightened the protocol for screening its citizens returning from outside the region following which every individual, symptomatic or asymptomatic and irrespective of the colour status of their originating location will be tested for Covid-19 and kept in institutional quarantine until the result of the test is obtained.
The state has witnessed a sudden spike in positive cases since May 2 after its border with rest of the country outside the region was flung open for people travelling on own arrangement. Before that, the last positive case was reported on April 30 in Karimganj, which was a secondary transmission from a contact with a Tablighi Jamaat attendee.
After a gap of four days, positive cases started again from May 5, which was three days after people started crossing the Assam-West Bengal border, and has continued without any break resulting in as many 17 fresh cases within a span of just four days till Friday. Ten of these are those who came in a bus from Ajmer Sharif to Silchar on May 6 while two came from West Bengal and the contact source of the others who do not have any travel history are unknown meaning that it is the virus, which has come in some human body.
“We are testing everyone and that is how we got one positive case in Guwahati on Thursday, who had travel history from Siliguri. We are not releasing anyone without test,” health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
The latest screening protocol from the state health department says that after the test results arrive, those who test positive will be sent to for isolation in Covid hospitals and but for those test negative, their next course of action will be decided by the zonal discharge board in each of the five zones—Kokrajhar, Sarusajai in Guwahati, Tezpur, Jorhat and Silchar
The negative yet symptomatic ones will have continue 14 days in the institutional quarantine and will have to go through multiple sessions of test from the fifth day. If found positive in the 14 days, the person will be sent to isolation or else released.
Those who test negative and are asymptomatic as well be put in 14 days home quarantine in his home district but will be under strict surveillance of health workers.