Team Assam: Sonowal seeks cooperation of political parties in COVID fight

GUWAHATI: 

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal has appealed to all political parties of the state to cooperate with the government and put up a united endeavour “in the spirit of Team Assam” to control the COVID-19 situation.

Chairing a meeting attended by representatives of various political parties of the state on Thursday, Sonowal urged the representatives of various political parties to encourage and promote COVID-19 appropriate behaviour among the people, while adhering to the protocol of “Test, Trace and Treat.”

Besides the ruling BJP and alliance partner Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), representatives of Indian National Congress, United People's Party Liberal (UPPL), Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), Raijor Dal, CPI (M), CPI (M-L), National People's Party (NPP), among other parties, attended the meeting.

All the party representatives gave their opinions, with the political parties in Assam pledging to rise beyond political interests in these difficult times and cooperate with the state government in its efforts and measures to tackle the COVID-19 situation.

The chief minister also reviewed two presentations highlighting measures to contain the virus.

Meanwhile, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “In difficult times like these, it is critical for us all to come together and unitedly step up our strategies and action to combat the pandemic."

Sarma also informed that the situation has been rendered even more dangerous with the detection of the “Indian double mutant strain in the recently collected samples from Dibrugarh Airport”.

“Recent samples from Dibrugarh Airport are positive for B.1.617 strain or the Indian double mutant (L452R and E484Q) strain of SARS-Cov-2. We need to be very, very careful,” he later tweeted.

The minister said that abiding by the SOPs as laid down by the government was the only option to save oneself from the virus.

He said the state currently has a sufficient stock of oxygen, Remdesivir, ICU beds, etc. “However, if the situation aggravates, then we might face a shortage,” he warned.

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