Tackling large number of returnees a tough ask: CM

SHILLONG: Chief Minister Conrad Sangma has admitted that the state is facing a challenging task with a large number of people, mostly from red zones in the country, returning to the state.
“This movement of people is a very important phase”, he told media persons on Monday.
He said strict protocols will be maintained and testing will continue adding that the government is trying to ensure that there is proper quarantine, whether at homes or at the community and institutional level.
“Continuous monitoring of the returnees is being done. It is important to be prepared and to plan well and the involvement of everybody, right from the government to the community and the individual will help”, he said.
On quarantine facilities, Sangma said that the government is still of the view that home quarantine is the best option.
“We still maintain that home quarantine is for people who are asymptomatic and who have tested negative. We feel that this is a system we have to get used to in the long run”, Sangma said.
The chief minister also informed that a number of communities and localities have offered to set up community quarantine centres and the government is amenable to the proposal.
“Community quarantine centres may be possible in the rural areas since the number is less. But this option will not be viable in bigger and densely- populated areas. All options have got their pluses and minuses. We will decide according to the given circumstances”, the chief minister said.
On the meeting with deputy commissioners, he said video conferences are being held with them regularly; the Health Department is having meetings with the deputy commissioners every alternate day.
“I try to join in at least once a week so that I can sit and discuss the challenges they face. The deputy commissioners and the district administrations are doing an excellent job. They have been working very hard. Challenges and difficulties are there”, he said.