Fresh Covid-19 case in Assam after 7 days, border vigil tightened
Guwahati/Agartala, April 23 (IANS) After seven days, a fresh Covid-19 positive case was reported from Assam on Thursday, taking the state’s coronavirus tally to 35, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said. One person has died of Covid-19 in the state so far.
The state governments of the northeast region have again asked the border protection forces to tighten the security along the borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh following the rise in the number of positive cases in the two neighbouring countries.
Sarma said in a tweet that a man from Bilasipara, Dhubri (western Assam), has tested Covid-19 positive. He has a history of being in touch with another patient, who was part of the Athgaon Majid congregation in Guwahati.
According to the health officials in Guwahati, with the latest positive case, the total number of active cases in the state has risen to 15, while one Covid-19 patient had died at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital on April 10. Nineteen others have recovered from the disease and have been discharged from different hospitals and medical colleges. The deceased person had a travel history to Saudi Arabia.
With five positive cases, Dhubri is one of the five districts in the state, which has been marked as a hotspot district. The others four districts are Golaghat, Marigaon, Nalbari and Goalpara.
Sarmar said that in Guwahati, a total of 5,789 samples, including those from Meghalaya and Mizoram, have been tested at six laboratories so far.
In Agartala, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said in a tweet that the second coronavirus patient in the state has been found negative on Thursday.
The samples of the second patient, a 32-year-old Tripura State Rifles jawan and a resident of Uttar Pradesh, tested positive thrice, but returned negative on the fourth occasion on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the governments in Tripura, Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram have asked the Border Security Force (BSF) to tighten the vigil along the Bangladesh borders as more than 120 people have died of Covid-19 in the neighbouring country.
In Imphal, Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh has stressed on extra vigil along the state’s 398 km India-Myanmar border areas and has directed Director General of Police L.M. Khaute to reinforce police checkpoints at various areas, particularly in the Churachandpur district.
Manipur government’s fresh directives to the Assam Rifles to reinforce security along the border areas came after reports of 127 positive cases surfaced from Myanmar.
A small village in Myanmar — Tiddim, which is at a walkable distance from the villages of Churachandpur district — has reported four positive cases.
Three hill districts of Manipur — Tengnoupal, Chandel and Churachandpur — share borders with Myanmar which are extremely porous.
–IANS
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