4 N-E states Covid-19 free, no new cases in other 4 states

Agartala/Imphal, April 25 (IANS): With the recovery of the second Covid-19 patient in Tripura on Saturday, four of the eight northeastern states – Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim — have become coronavirus-free, officials said on Sunday.

According to the health officials, there are 15 active nCoV cases in Assam, 11 in Meghalaya and one in Mizoram, besides a 33-year-old trader from Dimapur, Nagaland, undergoing treatment at the Guwahati Medical College and Hospital since April 12.

There has been no fresh COVID-19 cases in any of the N-E states in the past 24 hours.

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said the second and last Covid-19 patient of Tripura was released from hospital (on Saturday) amid the applause of the healthcare staff. “He expressed satisfaction for the treatment and thanked doctors and medical staffs,” said Deb, who also holds the Health and Home portfolios.

Tripura’s Covid-19 surveillance officer Dip Debbarma told IANS the second patient, 32-year-old Tripura State Rifles jawan from UP, was discharged from the government-run Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital on Saturday and he would remain in 14-day quarantine as per the protocol.

Debbarma said the first patient (a woman) was discharged from the hospital on April 15.

In Imphal, a 23-year-old woman, who had returned from the UK last month, become the first coronavirus case. She was also the first Covid-19 patient to recover in the northeast.

Manipur became second state after Goa to become coronavirus free after the state’s second and last patient was discharged on April 21. The 65-year-old man had attended the Tablighi Jamaat’s congregation in Delhi’s Nizamuddin last month.

The second Covid-19 patient of the state after testing negative second time and showing improvement in his diabetic status was discharged from the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences hospital in Imphal late on Tuesday, Manipur Health and Family Welfare Department’s Additional Director Khoirom Sasheekumar Mangang told IANS.

Arunachal Pradesh, bordering China, become the third coronavirus free state after the lone patient, a 31-year-old man, was discharged from hospital on Friday. The Arunachal man from Medo village had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation.

He tested positive for coronavirus infection on April 1 and since then was kept in an isolation ward at the Tezu Zonal Hospital.

While no positive case was reported from Sikkim, the other seven N-E states have so far reported 55 coronavirus cases, including Nagaland’s lone case.

Assam leads the tally with 36 cases and one death, followed by Meghalaya (12 cases and one death), Manipur and Tripura (2 cases each), and Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram (one case each).

Of Assam’s 36 cases, 35 are directly or indirectly linked to the Tablighi Jamaat congregation.

Besides the 55 cases in northeast, eight from Tripura, four each from Assam and Mizoram also tested coronavirus positive in Mumbai, Delhi, Rajasthan, UP and Meghalaya.