The coronavirus is likely spreading in India’s northeastern state of Assam faster than anywhere else in the country. Authorities are preparing for a surge in infections by converting a massive stadium and a university into hospitals.
Indian youth above eighteen years age queue up to get vaccinated against the coronavirus in Gauhati, Assam, India, Monday, May 10, 2021.
Add to that recent elections in the state — and the huge political rallies that accompanied them — and experts fear a uncontrolled surge is on the horizon. “We are adding 1,000 beds a week to prepare ourselves in the event of cases spiraling,” said Dr Lakshmanan S, the director of the National Health Mission in Assam.
The state is sending doctors, paramedics and medicine to these facilities and the university said it would provide books and newspapers for patients to read. Even as infections have increased, the rates of vaccination have fallen in Assam and the other states in the region since India expanded its coverage to include all adults on May 1.Adding to concerns is confirmation the virus has started spreading into more remote Himalayan villages with poor health infrastructure. These areas are home to indigenous tribes, whose are already face some of the lowest access to health care in the nation.
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