Assam reports first COVID-19 causality as 1 more case detected in Tripura

Assam reported its first death due to coronavirus on Friday while one more positive case was detected in Tripura, taking the northeast region’s active cases to 34.

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, in a tweet, said that another Covid-19 positive case has been confirmed, taking the state’s total number to two.

“The patient is a 32-year-old male from Madhya Pradesh and currently staying at Damcherra (in northern Tripura). He has travelled along with the first COVID-19 positive patient in train (from Guwahati),” said Deb, who also holds the Health portfolio.

A 45-year-old woman first tested positive for coronavirus in Tripura on Monday.

Health officials said that the woman, who returned to Tripura by train on March 18-19 after offering puja at Guwahati”s Kamakhya temple, is now undergoing treatment at the government-run Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital and her condition was stated to be stable.

In Assam, five samples of state’s existing 28 positive cases tested negative in the last checks, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in Guwahati.

The first corona death of Assam, also the first in the north-eastern region, was reported from the state’s Hailakandi district.

“Faijul Haque Barbhyan, 65, from Hailakandi district died at the Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH) early on Friday due to COVID-19. My deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family,” Sarma said in a tweet.Barbhyan”s swab sample had tested positive on Tuesday and he was immediately admitted to the SMCH. He had a travel history to Saudi Arabia and had returned home recently via Delhi.

According to Silchar hospital’s officials, the condition of the patient, a former employee of Madrassa Education Board, had turned critical on Thursday and was admitted in the ICU.

Hailakandi Deputy Commissioner Keerthi Jalli told the media that after funeral prayers, Barbhyan”s body, kept in an airtight three-layered plastic bag, was disinfected and taken to a burial ground 10 km from the Hailakandi city and buried there in the presence of his close relatives and an Imam.

Of the total 34 positive cases in five north-eastern states — Assam (28), Manipur (2), Tripura (2), Mizoram (1) and Arunachal Pradesh (1), 28 took part in a Tablighi Jamaat meet in Delhi last month.

A Manipuri woman and a Mizoram man tested positive last month after they returned from the UK and the Netherlands respectively.

A 52-year-old trader in Assam”s Kamrup (Metro) district has also tested positive for coronavirus.

Meanwhile, Sarma, while addressing media in Guwahati on Friday, said that as a public health safety measure, the state government has declared Athgaon Kabristhan Masjid in Guwahati as “self-containment zone” and sealed it for 14 days.

After returning from Nizamuddin Markaz event in Delhi, eight people stayed there and on March 12 held a congregation in the presence of at least 100 people. Three of them have so far tested positive for Covid-19.