10 persons test positive for Covid-19 in Pfutsero town

Our Correspondent
Kohima, July 28 (EMN): Ten persons tested positive for Covid-19 at Pfutsero town in Phek district on Tuesday, out of which seven were frontline workers and the remaining three were family members of one of the frontline workers, as per official source.

Earlier on July 23, one frontline worker from a facility quarantine centre at Pfutsero had tested positive for Covid-19, taking the current frontline workers’ tally in the region to eight.

A source informed that re-test of the frontline worker at BSL-3 lab in Kohima had returned positive.

ADC Pfutsero, Phuleshe K Yepthomi has issued an order to seal the areas where cases have been detected in order to take effective measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The sealed village and colonies mentioned in the order are Lasumi village, JNV quarantine centre, Seed Farm colony, Zhipa colony and Mission colony.

He stated that all movements of people and vehicles within the sealed village and colonies are strictly restricted and prohibited. Any person violating containment measures will be liable to be penalised as per the provisions of the Disaster Management Act 2005, he warned.

The convenor of Pfutsero town public core committee for Covid-19 also informed that all the testing were done at BSL-3 lab in Kohima since the TrueNat machine in Pfutsero was not functioning.

Partial lockdown in Pfutsero town

Partial lockdown has been announced in Pfutsero town jurisdiction from July 29 to August 4, following an emergency meeting of the district task force for Covid-19 in Phek on Tuesday.

Deputy Commissioner of Phek, Sachin Jaiswal issued an order stating that lockdown measures would be imposed in order to enhance active surveillance and to ensure comprehensive contact tracing, detection of suspected cases and implementation of isolation measures so that the chain of transmission can be slowed down and the spread of Covid-19 infection contained.

The following instructions are to be strictly observed during the lockdown period:

1. All categories of shops are to remain closed except pharmacies, shops selling essential commodities and fuel outlets, which can remain open from 6 am to 12 noon.

2. All public and vehicular movement is prohibited from 1 pm onwards except for medical emergencies, police and administration. Movement of any vehicles including those dealing with essential services within Pfutsero town jurisdiction shall be restricted subject to movement permit issued by the sub-divisional task Force on Covid-19.

3. Inter-state and inter district movement is restricted. However, movement of medical emergency cases and essential goods and services with proper safety measures in place will be allowed.

The order also stated that failure to comply with the order would invite strict penal actions as per the provisions of Section 51 to 60 of the Disaster Management Act 2005 besides legal action under section 188 of the IPC and other provisions wherever applicable.