Sikkim reports 2nd COVID-19 case

A second case of coronavirus has been reported in Sikkim on June 3 when a 56-year-old male returnee from Delhi tested positive for COVID-19. The person returned to state on May 25 and was kept at a quarantine centre in Mining, 40 kms from state capital Gangtok.

The patient is asymptomatic with mild cough and his son and daughter living in the same room of the quarantine centre have tested negative, informed Dr Pemba T Bhutia, Secretary, health and family welfare.

The patient’s son and daughter have since then been moved to separate isolation wards.

The male tested positive after 11 days of arriving in state and was shifted to STNM Hospital for further treatment on the night of June 2. He tested positive after his samples were sent for RT-PCR testing in the newly setup viral laboratory in Sikkim.

Dr Pemba T Bhutia, Secretary, health and family welfare while speaking to EastMojo said that he will address a press conference this afternoon on the newly detected COVID-19 case in state.

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“The first COVID-19 patient has recently tested negative and to avoid contact between two patients they have been kept in separate isolation wards. The first patient is in the male isolation ward while the second patient also a male has been kept at female isolation ward”, said Medical Superintendent Dr. Passang D. Phempu.

The patients are being looked after by a team of 40 healthcare workers in the COVID-19 section of STNM Hospital.

As of now, the state has 2 active cases of COVID-19 and both are asymptomatic. The first case was also a returnee from Delhi. He was being kept at a quarantine centre in Ravangla in South Sikkim.