Dr Devi Shetty releases coffee tabler ‘Assam’s War on Covid—How Team Himanta Beat the Pandemic’ authored by Wasbir Hussain

World renowned cardiac surgeon and founder of Narayana Hrudyalaya, Dr Devi Prasad Shetty along with Assam Health Minister Keshav Mahanta today released the coffee table book titled, Assam’s War on Covid—How Team Himanta Beat the Pandemic. The coffee table book authored by veteran journalist, writer and editor-in-chief of Northeast Live Wasbir Hussain is a factual account of the war-like measures the Assam Government undertook under Dr Sarma’s leadership to check and combat the mystery Covid virus.

Published by Wordweaves India, the exhaustive coffee-table book puts together details of how Dr Sarma and his team took steps early on to prepare Assam to check and combat the disease that would soon turn into a global pandemic. Starting from the origin of the virus at Wuhan, China, in December 2019, how it traversed the world, reached India and then Assam, the book details the extraordinary and visionary initiatives adopted by Dr Sarma and his team in battling Covid.

Team Himanta’s out-of-the-box ideas and measures to fight Covid got New Delhi’s stamp of approval and was called the Assam Model. Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah lauded Assam’s efforts at combating Covid under Dr Sarma’s leadership. The battle continued with the same vigour after Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma became Chief Minister in May 2021.

At a time when there was little or no information about the life-threatening virus, the then Health minister of the state Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, decided to put duty above life and took to the ground waging a war against the invisible enemy with able support from a team of capable hand-picked officials.

Sarma’s dynamic leadership ensured that Assam maintained pace in its fight against the virus in providing safety to the citizens. Be it the procurement of PPE kits and other equipment at break-neck speed, or the setting up of mega quarantine centres and dedicated Covid hospitals, Dr Sarma, the then health minister delivered against all odds.

Till 2 weeks before Assam recorded its first Covid-19 case on March 31st, 2020, the state health department did not have a single full cover PPE kit and there were only 635 N95 and 1620 triple-layer masks in the state. Not only this, there were also no mega quarantine centres in the state which could deal with a mega crisis that may arise in near future. When then Health minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma realised this, procurement of crucial protective gear started at break-neck speed.

Within 45 days, by April 30, 2020, the state procured 3.2 lakh PPE kits, 1.2 lakh N-95 masks and 62 lakh triple-layer masks. This was the speed with which the Assam Government, under Dr Sarma, worked while preparing to battle the mystery pandemic. Dr Sarma also led from the front when it came to administering vaccines. The success of Assam’s vaccine drive can be gauged from the fact that over 5 crore doses were administered till recently.

The Book, Assam’s War on Covid—How Team Himanta Beat the Pandemic, is a must-read for all those who are keen to learn about how a government, through imaginative planning, can deal with a mega health crisis.

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