TURA, April 26: The rising cases of COVID-19 in Garo Hills in recent days are being detected from a large number of returnees to the region, particularly from states where the outbreak has been severe, and authorities have now made it mandatory for all travellers coming in to get registered and tested at the entry point.
But what is worrying for authorities is the large number of returnees who passed through Berubari entry point in Bajengdoba, in the last one week, without having to undergo any form of screening.
The surveillance and screening teams from North Garo Hills would wrap up their testing and documentation for the day once evening fell, but as night fell, streams of vehicles, both private and commercial, passed through undetected.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has directed the district administration of North Garo Hills to ensure shifts are put in place and round-the-clock surveillance continues with side-by-side coordination between the different districts on the arrivals.
He has also urged citizens to take the vaccine and maintain all COVID protocols to protect the state and its citizens from the second and more aggressive wave of the virus.
There are 53 active cases of COVID in the district, as of Monday evening.
“Most of the new COVID infection cases are being detected primarily from those returning to the region from other states. Just the other day there were 11 positive cases out of 45 tested for the virus and all were returnees,” a worried Ram Singh, West Garo Hills Deputy Commissioner, revealed.
He said that the government has made RT-PCR tests mandatory for all travellers coming to the region to prevent a major outbreak from taking place.
On Monday itself, 22 new positive cases were detected at Tura Civil Hospital, of which 14 were returnees from outside the state.
Another positive case was found during testing at Jeldupara PHC in the plain belt.
With the number of COVID infections on the rise in Garo Hills, particularly Tura, the government has gone in for a special three-day free vaccination camp across a large number of localities in the town for people in the age group of 45 and above.
As many as 17 new vaccination camps were set up in different areas of the town for people to get access to the vaccine, beginning Monday.
“There are approximately 8,000 people in that age group in Tura eligible for the vaccination. We are targeting at least 5,500 and going by today’s high turnout, we feel we will cross the mark easily,” says Ram Singh.
The first day of the free vaccination camp witnessed almost 2,000 citizens taking the Covishield jab to protect against the dreaded coronavirus infection which has returned with a lethal impact across the country.
