The Sikkim government is staring at its toughest challenge yet in the so far successful effort to keep the coronovirus at bay from the shores of the Himalayan state with the expected arrival of over 5,000 local residents from different parts of the country over the next few days.

The immediate need is to increase the number of seats at the institutional quarantine facilities in all four districts of the state. Close to 2,000 persons are already staying in the quarantine facilities and more seats would be needed if the arrivals happen in a rush.

“The state task force on Covid-19 had specifically said the limit of the arrivals should not be more than 500 per day. But on May 21, about 1,100 persons will arrive from Bangalore at one go. We will have to increase the number of screening cabins both at Rangpo and Melli (the two entry points to the state), and then send them to facility quarantine since most of them are coming from red zone areas,” said Pempa T. Bhutia, the director general-cum-secretary of the Sikkim health department.

The government has set up quarantine facilities, both free and paid, in different parts of the state.

“About 1,100 would be coming from Bangalore on May 21. It will no doubt be a challenge for us, but we are equipped to deal with it,” said Rinzing C. Bhutia, the coordinator (Covid-19)-cum-state nodal officer.

Other health officials, however, said it would have been ideal if the people had arrived in a staggered manner so as not to put the health system under stress. “Almost 8,000 people have registered to return from different parts of the country. So far, a little over 2,000 have arrived. We can understand the desire of our stranded people to return home at the earliest, but they should do so in a staggered manner so as not to overburden the system,” said an official.

The official said the health workers had been working overtime since the start of the crisis, and if everything was done in a systematic and disciplined manner, their task would become easier.

“There have been instances when people have sought to enter the state well past the cut-off time of 7pm. This puts unnecessary burden on health and other frontline workers,” said the official.

Sikkim continues to remain the only state to record a single Covid-19 case yet though the nationwide figure crossed the 1-lakh mark.