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Dimapur, June 30 (EMN): With the gradual diminishing of the number of stranded citizens returning to the state, and the relocation of returnees to home quarantine, 23 institutional quarantine centres in Dimapur have been emptied now.
For months, the Covid-19 team in Dimapur had been under the pump; at the peak stretch, when the number of returnees was overwhelming, the team had been prompted to arrange 77 quarantine centres, including 27 paid quarantine facilities.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, the bureaucrat in charge of Covid-19 activities in Dimapur, Y Kikheto Sema, said that since the number of returnees has decreased to a large extent, 23 out of the 77 quarantine centres are empty now.
He informed that out of the remaining 54 quarantine centres, 27 were paid quarantine facilities. Nearly 2000 inmates are still undergoing quarantine in Dimapur; 1500 in institutional quarnaitne centres and the remaining 500 in paid centres.
According to him, Dimapur has hosted around 6000 returnees out of which 4000 have been released so far.
The highest number of quarantines from one single batch was 1002, he informed, adding that shortage of testing facilities had forced most of them to stay at the quarantine centres even after the completion of 14 days.
In comparison, Sema said that as of June 30, the number of returnees who had completed their 14-day stay was 330. He added that the figure will continue to decrease now that Dimapur has five TrueNat machines and the recently-inaugurated BSL-2 lab at the Christian Institute of Health Sciences and Research to augment the testing capacity.
Sema also informed that as of June 30, the total number of returnees to have arrived in Nagaland was 16,500; out of which, 500 had entered through Khuzama gate in Kohima.
He informed that 19 persons at Ganeshnagar quarantine centre had tested positive for Covid-19 and as precautionary measure, 115 inmates who had come in close proximity with the positive cases have been lodged at six hotels.
All the 115 inmates will be tested in few days, he said, adding that there were only 84 inmates left at Ganeshnagar quarantine centre.
Sema further informed that from Tuesday, all fresh returnees bound for Peren and Mon would keep in Dimapur for couple of days. He added that Dimapur is ready to host the returnees of other districts in the event of any natural calamities preventing the respective districts from receiving the returnees.
He reminded that ‘this is not the time to compare district-wise or tribe-wise’ in relation to the number of positive cases.
‘During this pandemic, let us not blame any district or tribe but fight it together. There is no caste, religion, district, tribe, political affiliation and faction,’ Sema said.
Further, Sema shared that more non-Naga citizens of Nagaland have started to arrive in Dimapur these days.
Asserting the importance of establishing points of contact for proper communication, he said that the Dimapur team will meet with leaders of non-Naga communities and appeal them to pass information.
He said that any person arriving must get approval from the community’s association or samaj so that the authorities would be aware of it.