Just In: 13 more Coronavirus Cases Detected in Tripura, Tally Rises to 29

Agartala, May 4, 2020:

Tripura has detected 13 more cases of the COVID-19 earlier today, announced the State's Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb. With this, the state's tally of coronavirus cases has risen to 29; while two patients have been discharged, twenty seven cases remain 'active'.

Addressing a press conference earlier today, Education Minister Ratan Lal Nath said that the virus is yet to reach "community transmission" stage in Tripura and most of the close contacts of the 12 BSF Jawans who were tested 'positive' for the virus are from the BSF camp itself.

“Altogether 331 people have been identified as close contacts of the coronavirus cases. Already, 179 samples have been collected as per the primary close contacts list and the reports are still to be declared", Nath said, adding that 118 samples will be collected tomorrow.

Nath also said that 179 persons were identified as close contacts of first two cases. "Apart from that, 78 more people have been identified who were in the same battalion. All the carries are asymptomatic -- a trait that is common to all of them", Nath said.

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The 179 contacts include BSF personnel, as well as doctors, nurses, and patients of the Dhalai hospital visited by the infected jawans.

On being asked as to how the first patient had been infected, health secretary in-charge SK Rakesh replied that there was a possibility that he could have been infected in the camp itself.

As per the primary inputs, the first patient, a head constable in the 138 battalion BSF was exposed to the contagion in the camp since he stayed there for the longest period (March 11 to April 22). Some other jawan might have brought the disease to the camp and the latter was infected due to him. "The BSF has, meanwhile, commissioned an internal inquiry to find out which jawans had returned to their posts before the lockdown was announced in accordance with their travel history”, Rakesh told media. He also has not ruled out the possibility of the jawans being infected at the border outpost.

In Tripura, altogether 128 people are in facility quarantine whereas 572 people are in home quarantine. 5,611 samples have been collected and 5,394 have been tested.

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