MANGALDAI, May 16 - Confusion prevails among hoteliers here over media reports quoting the district administration that their hotels will be used as temporary quarantine centres for people entering the district from outside the State.
Anupam Deka, owner of Hotel Kharkhowa, said he came to know about the development only from the media. �The administration has asked for our rates. Apart from that I have not been given further information�. Similarly, Sidhartha Baruah, owner of Hotel Sidhartha Palace, said, �We were called for a discussion some 20 days ago. After that, there was no correspondence from the district authority.�
Mriganka Sahariah straightaway expressed his inability to accept any such proposal. �I can�t accept any such proposal as my residence is attached to my hotel where my elderly parents stay. My staff is also unwilling to serve in such a situation,� he said.
The Darrang district administration officially announced its decision to use four hotels here as temporary quarantine centres along with four government educational institutions to accommodate around 9,000 returnees to the district.
Meanwhile, till Friday, 21 persons arrived in the district � all of whom have been quarantined in government hospitals.
With collection of swab samples being intensified, the cumulative figure of samples sent for tests stood at 616 on Friday. On Friday itself, 58 new samples were sent to Tezpur Medical College and Hospital instead of GMCH. Earlier, 558 samples were sent to GMCH, of which reports of 399 have been received, Health department sources said. The pending results indicates that GMCH is overburdened with swab samples. This situation has led the Health department here to start sending samples to TMCH.
