Coronavirus case, Tripura: Chief Minister Deb said BSF jawans violated social distancing rules (File)
Agartala, Tripura:
The 162 BSF staff and their families who tested positive for COVID-19 early last month violated containment protocols, including social distancing and quarantine, the chief minister said on Monday from Tripura, Biplab Deb, based on a report from a central team.
Tripura declared itself free from coronavirus in late April after successfully treating the only two confirmed cases in the state. Shortly after, however, a group of cases emerged from a border security forces (BSF) camp in Ambasa, north of Tripura. The first case was reported on May 2 and the number quickly increased to 151 within a week.
A team of experts from the center today submitted a report on the mini-epidemic. Deb, who is also president of the BJP state unit, said the report highlighted the BSF’s disregard for standards of social distancing and quarantine.
“We have sent the central team report to the Union’s interior ministry. I have learned that the commander of the 138th BSF battalion was replaced after the epidemic,” said the chief minister.
“As the BSF soldiers and their family members came from different parts of the country, they should follow COVID-19 guidelines, including social distancing and quarantine,” he added.
The report was submitted by a three-member core team formed after Mr. Deb asked the National Center for Disease Control to investigate the increase in COVID-19 cases among paramilitary personnel.
Led by GK Medhi, who heads the community medicine department of the Indira Gandhi Northeast Regional Institute of Health and Medical Sciences in Meghalaya, the team spent 11 days collecting data before submitting their state government findings last week.
As many as 135 BSF officers and soldiers and a mess worker attached to the 138th and 86th battalions, as well as 26 family members, were infected with the virus. All have recovered, however, but are in extended quarantine at battalion headquarters.
Tripura has so far registered 316 cases of COVID-19. This includes BSF staff and their family members. It also includes the two previous patients – a soldier from Tripura State Rifles (with a history of travel to Mumbai) and a woman from Udaipur to Rajasthan (with a history of travel to Guwahati in Assam).
So far, 173 people have recovered and no deaths related to the virus have been reported.
The chief minister downplayed discussions about the spread of the virus. “There is very little chance of contamination in the community. All the cases detected subsequently are among the 14,000 who returned after being blocked in other states and they have already been quarantined”, a- he declared.
