TURA: Panic gripped shoppers and merchants across Tura town’s main market after three traders from the super market complex tested positive for Covid-19 during random testing conducted by the district health team on Thursday.
As many as 24 new cases were reported from across the district, the bulk of infections coming from the BSF personnel.
Authorities in the district have been conducting random testing across markets in the district for quite some time to trace out infections and it was during one such mass testing conducted in the super market that the infections were found.
The four storied super market houses a couple of hundred shops and is frequented by hundreds of people every day for purchase of essential food items, clothes, shoes and electronic items.
“The three positive cases were detected during random testing and sampling of all shopkeepers has been completed. Contact tracing of primary contacts is being done first thing tomorrow morning,” informed deputy commissioner Ram Singh.
All three traders who tested positive for the virus and were shifted to the corona care centre does not have any recent travel history. Though they were found to have the antigen in their blood, yet, their family members who happen to be the primary contacts have tested negative, informed the deputy commissioner. Besides the three positive from the market area, another person was detected with the virus in Tikrikilla, on the same day.
The total number of new cases in the district rose to 24 after 20 personnel from the BSF were also found carrying the virus in the district.
Patients identity compromised: There has been much anger and disappointment among family and friends of the three traders who tested positive after their identities were revealed in social media soon after the test results came out.
“The three traders were made to stand out in the centre of the super market complex for the ambulance to come to take them away and during that time people were jostling to take photos of them on mobiles. Their faces were splashed all across social media which shouldn’t have happened as they can be stigmatised,” several angry citizens pointed out on the social media.