Coronavirus: Tripura Reports 13 more Cases, Total Rises to 42

Tripura, May 5, 2020:

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb has just confirmed that 13 more from the 138th Border Security Force (BSF) battalion, including a mess worker, have tested positive for the coronavirus. The number of cases has now risen to 42, with 40 of those being active ones. The state has not reported any casualties so far.

Deb, who made the announcement via Twitter, wrote that there is no positive case among civilians, adding there is no need to panic.

The number of cases in Tripura are continuing to rise at a drastic rate ever since a BSF jawan from Assam's Sivasagar and his hospital attendant from the same battalion had tested positive on May 2.

Earlier today, Tripura Minister Ratan Lal Nath had said that the test results of most of the close contacts of the coronavirus infected BSF jawans came negative. Some of the samples were being tested and rest of the reports to come soon.

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Nath said that altogether 34 people had been identified who were connected with the two BSF jawans who had tested positive earlier. From them 12 people tested positive. When contact-tracing process of these 12 Jawans initiated 13 more positive cases appeared from altogether 179 total tests. Now, in these new cases 88 more persons identified, he said.

Nath further added that 56 health officials and 4 patients had been shifted to isolationfor coming in close contact with the first BSF jawan while he was admitted in the Dhalai hospital. Reports of all the 60 hospital contacts have come 'negative'.

At the same time, he said, 30 samples were collected from Gandacherra hospital and 13 of those had tested 'negative'. 26 locals had been also subjected to swab tests, Nath further informed.

Speaking on the inter-state movement of migrants, Nath said that altogether 70 persons had come from hotspot locations and had been put into isolation. Altogether, 154 samples had been collected from those who had travelled to the state from other places.

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