The North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences here on Thursday issued a protocol for transfer of non-Covid-19 critically ill patients from other states to the institute.

Institute director Dr D.M. Thappa, in a letter to Meghalaya chief secretary M.S. Rao, stated that only critically ill non-Covid-19 patients certified by the health authority concerned could seek treatment at the institute.

In view of the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of accompanying attendants of the patient will be limited to one.

At the inter-state border, details of the ambulance, driver, critically ill patient and attendant will be maintained and certified by the state health authority.

Patients’ attendants coming from other states will need to be quarantined for 14 days according to state government directives.

Rao has intimated the chief secretaries of all northeastern states of the protocol.

Assam samples

In Assam, 28 samples collected from Dibrugarh district on Wednesday, reports of which were out on Thursday, have tested negative for Covid-19, a health department official said.

On Wednesday too, 27 samples were found to be negative. All these samples were collected in connection with the religious congregation at Nizamuddin in Delhi.

Nabajyoti Gogoi, nodal officer of the joint director of health services, Dibrugarh, said, “We have 3,600 people under home quarantine in the district. They had arrived from other states by air and rail. Some of them have returned from states having Covid-19 cases. Their health is being monitored daily.”

Additional reporting by Avik Chakraborty in Dibrugarh