GUWAHATI: The number of confirmed COVID-19 positive cases in the Northeast has shot up to 20 till Thursday afternoon with Arunachal Pradesh registering its first such case, and as many as 16 cases, all attendees of the Nizamuddin Markaz, detected in Assam itself.
In fact, since the first case in the region was reported from Manipur on March 24, 2020 and subsequently another from Mizoram, where the persons contracting the virus had reportedly travelled overseas, there has been a surge of COVID positive cases in the region in the past couple of days.
It has been officially confirmed that 18 of the 20 infected so far in the Northeast had attended the Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin, Delhi held earlier last month.
Assam health and family welfare minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma had tweeted in the wee hours of Thursday that swab samples of three persons from Goalpara district, who had part in the religious congregation at Nizamuddin Markaz, tested positive for coronavirus.
The tweet followed confirmation of eight such cases (all residents of Golaghat district) from Jorhat Medical College Hospital and four cases at Guwahati Medical College Hospital on Wednesday.
Assam had registered its first positive case on Tuesday evening with a 52-year-old man from Karimganj contracting the virus.
Curfew was clamped in Medo area of Lohit district in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday for 24-hours after a man tests positive for COVID-19, an official said.
The 24-hour curfew which has been clamped at Medo area since 12 PM on Thursday would be in force till Friday noon, Lohit Deputy Commissioner Prince Dhawan said.
The 31-year-old man, who tested coronavirus positive is from Medo area of the district and he is also the first person in Arunachal Pradesh to have COVID-19.
“The curfew has been clamped as a precautionary measure against spreading of coronavirus after the person tested positive,” the DC added. The man had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhis Nizamuddin on March 15.
“The district health authority had kept the infected man at a special isolation room at Zonal Hospital Tezu, the district headquarters town and all his family members were kept in quarantine room,” Health Secretary P Prathiban said, adding that the swab samples of the family members would be collected and will be sent to Dibrugarh for test.
Arunachal’s first case
The 31-year-old man reached Medo in Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh on March 18 after attending the Markaz congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin on March 15.
He left Nizamuddin on March 16 and since March 24 he was under home quarantine and was not showing any signs and symptoms even after 16 days.
The district police are on job to trace all the persons who came in contact with the person, Lohit district SP Wangdi Thungon said.
State Surveillance Officer (Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme) Dr L Jampa informed that six more who, also attended the Markaz congregation, were located in Namsai district and have been found negative.
Police traces 12 more who attended Nizamuddin
The Arunachal Pradesh Police on Thursday traced 12 more persons, who had attended a congregation in Delhis Nizamuddin West last month, an officer said.
The police traced the 12 persons after the news of first COVID-19 case was reported from Lohit district of the state on Thursday morning, the offficer said.
The 12 persons who went to the Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi, stayed in the National Capital from March 2 to 4, left Delhi on March 5 by train and reached Naharlagun railway station, near here, on March 7, Capital SP Tumme Amo said.
Of the 12 persons, four were traced in Itanagar, two in Naharlagun, one in Nirjuli and another five from Laluk in Assams North Lakhimpur district, the SP said.
“The individuals have been traced and have been taken to Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS) for necessary tests to be conducted,” Amo said.
TRIHMS sources said that the 12 persons are kept in the isolation ward and their swab samples have been collected and would be sent for test.
The state government had already designated TRIHMS as the specialized hospital to deal with COVID-19 cases.
Another positive case in Manipur
A 65-year-old man, who attended a congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin West last month, tested positive for COVID-19 in Manipur, taking the total number of coronavirus cases in the state to two, Chief Minister N Biren Singh said on Thursday.
He said the development was “very sad and very serious” for a small state like Manipur. The man, a resident of Lilong area in Thoubal district, is undergoing treatment at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) here.
“Appropriate containment measures and surveillance activities in the patient’s locality has been taken up promptly,” said an official statement.
The state-level control room on COVID-19 said ten people returned to Manipur after attending the religious congregation in Nizamuddin and of them, eight have tested negative. Earlier, the control room had said 14 people from the state had links to the congregation.
The first case in the state was reported on March 24 when a 23-year-old woman with a travel history to the UK had tested positive. (With inputs from PTI)
