Himanta Biswa Sarma
GUWAHATI: Alarming daily upsurge in Covid cases has become a matter of concern in many states, but Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said there is no possibility of going back to lockdown days in the poll-bound state now.
Though less than 0.1% positive cases are being reported for quite some time in the state, the health department is carrying out 15,000-16,000 tests per day. The department said this vigil has been remarkable in bringing down the number of cases.
As the gateway to the northeast, the Assam government has been on its toes for months to arrest the spread. Covid screening at airports and major railway stations have contributed immensely to filtering out positive cases. In addition to this is adherence to home and institutional isolation rules, which has brought down daily positive cases below 25 for the last one week.
Assam health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. (File photo)
GUWAHATI: An extraordinary 137% increase in budget outlay for health and Rs 35,000 crore allocation for Covid-19 vaccine has ushered in a ray of hope for the health sector in Assam, where specialized healthcare in many district peripheries is still a distant dream.
Health experts here said it’s now high time to build specialized treatment facilities in the rural areas with the enhanced budgetary allocation for health.
While state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma thanked PM and FM for the health allocations, the Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) Assam chapter has pressed the government for covering more workers from the non-government healthcare institutions under vaccination drive. “My compliments to Hon PM Sri @narendramodi and FM Smt @nsitharaman for a generous booster dose for health,” Himanta tweeted.