Coronavirus: Assam Prepares for COVID-19 with 2000-Bed Quarantine Facility in Stadiums

Guwahati, March 28, 2020:

As the world continues to plunge towards the most horrific health crisis in recent memory and the nations struggle to discover a solution to keep the dreaded coronavirus at bay, the State of Assam in India's Northeast has caught the public's attention through its relentless preparations against the virus.

In February, we all marvelled at China's ability to set up a 1,000-bed facility which was built to relieve hospitals swamped with patients in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak. Now, Assam, which is situated to the East of India and is connected to the mainland only via a chicken's neck corridor, has set a shining example of preparedness in the midst of an emergency. Assam, it can be argued, has even outdone the world superpower China, as it has started developing upto 2,000 bed-large quarantine in its stadiums as preparation measures.

[Note: Already, the government has started work to turn Guwahati's Sarusajai stadium into a 700 people quarantine]

Thus, whareas China developed the facilities long after the pandemic had killed close to 400 people on Chinese soil, Assam's foresightedness in developing such infrastructure before the detection of a single case is indeed commendable.

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Faced with the threat of an outbreak after the detection of two cases in the Northeast -- in Manipur and Mizoram -- the Assam Health department has started developing upto 2,000 bed-capacity quarantine zones in its hospitals.

Assam's Health Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma, who has been at the forefront of this fight against the coronavirus, has adopted a "people-approach" in dealing with this issue, i.e, sensitization of the people of the State to intimate them about the dangers posed by the virus. Yesterday, when scores of reckless Assamese came out of their safe havens to partake in marketing amid the lockdown, Biswa Sarma immediately took to Twitter. Making an urgent appeal to the people, he wrote, "Request to every one - please do not go out of our own Home. We are in very critical condition. Need to follow every word of Narendra Modi in both letter and spirit. Please."

Later, addressing the media, the Minister also announced that the private and public health facilities in the State are prepping to fight to coronavirus in tandem. The Health Ministry has now decided to restrict the Gauhati Medi cal College and Hospital (GMCH), which as emerged as the epicentre of corona testing in the NE, only for maternity, cancer & emergency care from March 28. Otherwise, it will be used for treatment of the COVID-19 patients. Moreover, 3 of the 7 Government medical colleges will be used for treating corona patients, the administration has confirmed. This, it is believed, will enable the Government to treat 5,000 patients at the same time.

[Note: Apart from the GMCH, the Dibrugarh and Silchar Medical Colleges have been earmarked for this pupose]

In Guwahati, another hospital, Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital in Pan Bazar is ready with 200 beds, while the Kamrup Rural District Hospital is said to be having a similar capacity for coronavirus patients.

"All other patients shall be redirected to private nursing homes & hospitals. Patients can also directly approach private clinics for free treatment. Govt will pay back pvt hospital as per Ayushman Bharat", Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati yesterday.

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Meanwhile, the Assam administration is also planning 5 pre-fabricated hospitals in collaboration with private companies to meet this emergency situation. The project might cost around Rs 40-45 crore, which shall be met with the help of donations from govt agencies, MPs and public and state resources. Meanwhile, some MPs such as the Congressman Pradyut Bordoloi have already pledged sums to amp up the fight against the corona.

Moreover, to ensure that doctors and nurses are in no supply, students shall now be enrolled in the fight against the COVID-19 in the State. Final year medical students shall be given 7-day intensive training on treatment of COVID-19 patients, and final year nursing students shall be deployed across 6 medical colleges.

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