Tripura: 16 More from BSF unit test COVID-19 positive; total 152

Agartala: Another 16 persons have tested positive from the 86th bn of the Border Security Force (BSF) in Ambassa under Dhalai district of Tripura including one official, six female and nine children, a day after 17 BSF jawans from the 86th bn of BSF were found to be infected with the novel coronavirus.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state now stands at 152.

Taking to Twitter, Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb confirmed the development, “ALERT!

16 persons found #COVID19 POSITIVE in Tripura from 86th-Bn #BSF (Official: 1, Female:6, Children: 9).

We are conducting max number of tests. 75 Samples from 3rd-Bn BSF tested but all reports are NEGATIVE.

Total active cases: 148

Transferred out: 02

Recovered: 02”

The state’s first positive case was reported on April 6 after a 45-year-old woman from Gomati district tested positive with travel history to Assam’s Guwahati. Meanwhile, the second case was reported on April 10, after a Tripura State Rifles (TSR) jawan tested positive for the deadly coronavirus. Both the positive patients have travel history by the same train on April 19.

Earlier this evening, speaking in a press conference, additional chief secretary, SK Rakesh said, that the first batch of the COVID-19 positive patients would be released by day after tomorrow as per the guidelines of the ministry of health and family welfare said additional chief secretary SK Rakesh here on Sunday.

According to the new discharge policy it has been advised by the government of India that we can release all those patients having mild symptoms and asymptomatic can be released with advice for home quarantine of another seven days before going out in the public area.

“The first two BSF jawans who had tested positive on May 2 are now eligible to be released by day after tomorrow. We hope from Tuesday onwards the existing BSF personnel and their family members would be discharged from the hospital and care centres”, Rakesh said.

Presently a total of 132 patients are being treated in different hospitals and COVID centres in the state. There are 87 patients admitted in Govind Ballabh Pant (GBP) COVID-19 hospital, 44 in Saheed Bhagat Singh COVID care centre.

Speaking further he said that the guideline of the health ministry says there is no need for a test if anybody is asymptomatic and has mild symptoms. The BSF jawans would be placed under quarantine in the BSF headquarters. However, a meeting would be held on Monday to decide if the state government would conduct the tests or not.

“A total of 450 samples are being tested and with this, the samples testing of all the BSF personnel and their family members in 86th and 138th battalion will be over. In other parts, surveillance and collection of samples are going on. A total of 28 samples were collected from Dhalai district including 20 civilian samples”, Rakesh added.

He also said that the present ratio of tests per million in Tripura stands at 2,272 per million, which is the fifth-highest in India.

“We have held a meeting all eight district magistrates for declaring one COVID care centre within each district. In the next three days they will do the needful, while Gomati district has already declared one building close to the district hospital as COVID care centre”, Rakesh said.

He also said that ministry of health and family welfare has agreed to the request for sending National centre for communicable diseases control (NCCD) to conduct an inquiry and help the state government in tracing out the source of the virus. The date of the arrival of (NCCD) team in Agartala will soon be decided after a meeting Monday.