Corona combat: State mulls to set up more quarantine centres in districts

Kolkata: State Health department is keen on setting up more quarantine centres at the panchayat level of various districts including many from North Bengal where the COVID-19 infection rate has gone up following the return of migrant labourers.

A senior Health official at Swasthya Bhawan said that quarantine centers have been constructed at block levels in various districts ever since the infection rate started climbing up.

Now, attempts have been made to arrange quarantine centers in the panchayat areas of those districts which have recorded a sharp rise in the transmission of the virus in recent time.

The new quarantine centers will come up in the districts like Coochbehar, North Dinajpur, Malda, Alipurduar in North Bengal and Murshidabad, Nadia, North 24-Parganas, Birbhum, Bankura and Purulia in south.

Sources said that many of the quarantine centers at the block level of various districts have been filled up already especially due to the influx of the migrant labourers and this had prompted the health officials to put in place additional arrangements to meet the situation.

Though, there had been opposition by the local people in some places against the setting up quarantine centers. In most of the incidents it was found that the local BJP leaders orchestrated the agitation only to politicize the issue.

Many South Bengal districts have already witnessed such incidents where district administrations had difficulties to convince people.

According to health department sources, more than 232 migrant labourers from Howrah have tested positive for the virus and around 166 migrant labourers from North Dinajpur have been affected with the virus.

The number of infected migrant labourers in South Dinajpur is around 37 while in Malda the number stands at 147. Birbhum has so far 164 affected migrant labourers, Coochbehar 132,

North 24-parganas 127, Hooghly 126, East Burdwan 82, East Midnapore 50, West Burdwan 32, Bankura 30 and Purulia 61.

There are around 11,504 quarantine facilities opened throughout the state to accommodate the migrant labourers who have returned to various districts from other states. Arrangements have been made to operate many more facilities across the state so that the suspected people can be put under institutional quarantine. There are currently 582 government owned quarantine centers in Bengal so far.

The health department has already urged the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who is in charge of the health department to add more nursing homes in the districts as dedicated COVID hospitals. It was learnt that there is a proposal for turning private hospitals having 100-150 beds to dedicated hospitals for COVID treatment.

These private hospitals may be requisitioned by the government in various districts. Presently, there are 69 dedicated hospitals in the state.