Arunachal government to screen students returning from Delhi by special train

Itanagar: The Arunachal Pradesh government on Monday decided to screen all the students returning to the state from Delhi by a special train, an official statement said. The decision was taken during an emergency meeting chaired by Health Minister Alo Libang. Libang also reviewed the preparedness and the strategy adopted for cluster containment of coronavirus in the state.

It was also decided that laboratory testing for Covid-19 will be carried out on only those with symptoms such as cough, cold, running nose, difficulty in breathing and having travel history to any of coronavirus affected countries.

The samples (throat swab) will be collected at Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) at Naharlagun, near here, Baken Pertin General Hospital at Pasighat in East Siang district and all district and general hospitals in the state, the statement said.

The samples would be sent and tested at Indian Council of Medical Research in Dibrugarh and Guwahati Medical College in Assam. State surveillance officer (SSO) of Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) Dr L Jampa made a presentation on steps taken by the health department to prevent the spread of the disease in the state, the official statement said.

Earlier, responding to apprehensions of MLAs in the assembly, Libang said that there is nothing to panic and people have been asked to be alert. "24x7 control room has been set up at the state Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) for responding to any queries on coronavirus. The state and districts have rapid response teams to act as first responders for any cases, if detected in the state," he said.