GUWAHATI: Health workers in Assam will visit as many as 25,000 villages in about a month’s time to closely monitor cases of influenza-like illnesses (ILI) and acute respiratory syndrome (ARS) in a bid to collect and test samples from people with such symptoms and thereby prevent transmission of such diseases in communities.
Addressing the media here on Thursday, state health minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma said that teams of doctors, nurses and laboratory technicians under the aegis of the respective district administration, will go from village to village to test samples from people with ILI and ARS symptoms, which are similar to COVID-19.
“The scheme initiated by the health department is effective from today and we believe through it we can also test more samples in the coming days and prevent any such diseases (ILI, ARS and COVID-19) from affecting the community,” Sarma said.
He further said that the health workers will also strictly monitor people who are on home quarantine and take all measures, including putting up notice boards outside the houses, to make people aware of those under home quarantine.
As it is, those placed under home quarantined, are being stamped on the back of both palms and the minister has requested people to alert the police station if they notice any such person venturing out of home during the quarantine period.
Masks mandatory
The health minister said that a notification would be out on Friday making wearing of masks mandatory and a penalty of Rs 500 would be imposed per violation on those not complying with the order.
“The masks can be any cloth that protects the face properly. Even if the mask is not worn properly, the person may be liable for the violation,” he said.