Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Apr 2: The state has reported its first positive case of Covid-19. A 31-year-old male is currently admitted in the isolation ward of the zonal general hospital in Lohit HQ Tezu.
Lohit DMO, Dr Sajinglu Chai Pul, said that the patient is asymptomatic and all protocol to treat a Covid-19 patient is being followed.
The district administration had already constituted medical teams. Currently, there are eight teams with two doctors, two nurses, two attendants and two sweepers each. Each of the personnel who are on duty will undergo 14 days of quarantine, Dr Pul Chai said.
She said there are enough personal protection equipment for now.
The six swab samples collected from the family members of the person in the isolation ward have been sent for analysis. Contact tracing has already started and necessary precautions are being taken, the DMO said, adding that decontamination is being carried out in the area.
The person had travelled to Nizamuddin in Delhi, where a religious congregation had taken place recently. The area has since emerged as the epicentre of the coronavirus.
Six others, from Namsai, who had travelled with the person to Delhi have tested negative. They will be tested again. Their family members have already been taken into quarantine.
One more person who was in the group has been traced to Laluk in Assam.
Responding to a query from this daily, Lakhimpur DC Jeevan B said that swab sample of the person has been taken and the results are due Thursday evening or Friday.
The DC said the person was staying with a friend in Laluk, who has also been taken into quarantine.
The person, originally from Bongalmara area, was arrested for ILP violation by the capital police here on 20 March. He was not taken into quarantine but arrested and kept at the Naharlagun police station. He was let off after a day. He is reported to have spent two days in Itanagar before leaving for Laluk.
Meanwhile, samples from seven more persons who attended the religious congregation have been taken.
According to Capital DMO, Dr M Pertin, the families of those who attended the event have been taken to a quarantine facility. The seven people from the capital region stayed in Nizamuddin from 5-6 March, according to the state police.
Meanwhile, the surveillance cell has appealed to anyone in Arunachal who attended the religious congregation of the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin to immediately contact the health department at 0360-2350407/104.
“It is in the interest of their own and the public’s health,” IDSP State Surveillance Officer, Dr L Jampa, said.
80 samples collected, 57 test negative, 1 positive, other results awaited
The state nodal officer for Covid-19, Dr L Jampa, has informed that till now 80 swab samples have been collected in the state for Covid-19 test.
“There is one positive case, 57 negative, and the results of the remaining 16 samples are expected to come out by tomorrow (Friday),” he said.
Dr Jampa said the highest number of samples has been collected from TRIHMS (46), followed by Namsai (8), East Siang (6), Tawang (4), and so on.
Regarding the patient in Tezu, he said: “Right now he is asymptomatic. He is doing fine and has no health issue. He will be kept in the isolation ward of Tezu hospital for the next 14 days, as per the standard operating procedure.”
If the person develops symptoms, he will be shifted to Dibrugarh (Assam), as per the decision taken by the state government, added Dr Jampa.
