GUWAHATI/BONGAIGAON, May 1 - The Bongaigaon Public Health Centre has been sealed while some 5,206 people put under quarantine in the district, after detection of four new cases which prima facie did not have any contact history.
Altogether 148 people, including 109 family members of staff working in Bongaigaon Public Health Center have been put in institutional quarantine. Two of the four persons who were found to be positive for COVID-19 yesterday are staff at the Bongaigaon PHC.
The district administration has also declared three areas in the town as containment zones, restricting the movement of people.
The district witnessed tight lockdown since the morning hours today as no shops were allowed to open and sell essential items.
Meanwhile, Dr Mahbibul Islam, the doctor who is in charge of the Block Public Health Centre, has been quarantined because of his contact with a Markaz returnee.
Women health workers of the health centre had alleged that Dr Islam did not follow quarantine norms despite his son having a travel history. �Also Dr Islam did not put the two workers of the health center � Babita Basfor and Anupam Thakuria, who were later detected as Covid-19 positive, in isolation even after taking their samples for test. Instead, they were allowed to work in the health center,� they alleged.
In Guwahati, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the new positive patients were not quarantined before the test results because the doctors did not see any symptoms in them.
�Yes, there are certain allegations against the PHC in-charge. The DC has taken a strong exception. The government has asked the DC to inquire into the matter before taking any action against the doctor,� Sarma said, indicating that the virus might have spread from the PHC.
The State government has sent a team headed by the Director of Health Services to Bongaigaon today.
