Agartala: As many as 22 more persons — 18 Border Security Force (BSF) troopers, a woman and three children — tested positive for novel coronavirus for the fifth consecutive day on Wednesday in Tripura, taking the active cases among troopers and their family members in the state to 62, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said.
Deb, who also holds the Health and Home portfolios, said in a late night tweet: “18 more BSF personnel of the 138th Battalion, a woman and three children, at Ambassa (in northern Tripura’s Dhalai district) found COVID-19 positive. Total positive cases in Tripura (so far) stands at 64 (two discharged; active cases 62). Don’t panic. The govt is working vigilantly.”
According to officials of Tripura’s Health department, these 62 patients include 54 BSF men of the 138 Battalion, two women, their five children and a mess worker.
The officials said that 331 people, comprising 90 doctors and health workers and 241 BSF jawans, were identified for directly or indirectly coming in contact with the infected BSF troopers.
The swab samples of the identified people are being tested in a phased manner, they said.
Most of the infected persons are now undergoing treatment at the Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital in Agartala, a dedicated COVID-19 hospital.
Dhalai District Magistrate Brahmneet Kaur has declared three containment zones — the BSF battalion headquarters, their administrative base camp at Gandachara and Karina Border Outpost (BoP) near the international border with Bangladesh.
The Tripura Government on Wednesday asked the IG of Tripura frontier of BSF to conduct an inquiry on the spurt of COVID-19 cases among jawans of 138 Battalion of the paramilitary force posted in Dhalai district and submit a report within seven days.
Tripura Law minister Ratan Lal Nath said in the last five days, 62 BSF personnel or their family members tested positive for COVID-19 and all of them were from the 138th battalion of BSF with headquarters at Ambassa in Dhalai district, 100 km from here.
Nath said the Principal Secretary (Home) Barun Kumar Sahu in a letter to the IG, BSF, Solomon Minz told him to enquire into the origin of the COVID-19 cases and steps taken by the BSF to prevent further infection among common people and submit a report to the state government within seven days.
Two BSF jawans of 138 battalion headquarters at Ambassa had tested positive on May 2. The very next day 12 more BSF personnel tested positive. On May 4, 13 more tested positive and on May 5 another 13 BSF jawans tested positive for COVID-19.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of BSF said the paramilitary force was also conducting an investigation about the source of the infection and all activities including PT, parade and group gathering of jawans have been stopped.
“The entry of any civilian into any BSF camp has been stopped for the time being. No BSF jawan is also allowed to go outside,” the PRO added. (Agencies)
