Assam reported North East India's first coronavirus case today

A four-and-a-half year in Assam, who was suspected to have novel coronavirus infection, has tested negative. A second round of test conducted on the child's samples were found to be negative, sources at the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) in Dibrugarh district said. The initial test at the Jorhat Medical College in Jorhat dirsict on Saturday had shown that the child had the infection.

Despite the negative result in the second test, the child and the family have been quarantined as a precautionary measure, state government sources said.

"The 4-year-old child who was suspected of Covid-19 and tested in Jorhat Medical College and RMRC, Dibrugarh has been found NEGATIVE. There is no Covid-19 positive case in Assam so far," Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tweeted this morning

The 4 year old child who was suspected of #covid19 and tested in Jorhat Medical College and RMRC, Dibrugarh has been found NEGATIVE. There is no Covid19 positive case in Assam so far. pic.twitter.com/u2pqoJnwTe — Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) March 22, 2020

"The girl, her sister and her mother came to Jorhat on March 19. Health workers visited the family on March 20 and brought them to Jorhat Medical College as the girl exhibited symptoms. A sample was taken for testing and today evening, the result came," Roshni Aparanji Korati, the district Deputy Commissioner, told news agency PTI.

Earlier two American tourists had travelled through Assam on their way to Bhutan. However, they developed symptoms only on arrival in that country. The second tourist tested positive on Friday; the first had done son on March 5 and was repatriated to the United States last week.

Contact tracing led to 421 Assam residents. Of these, 160 were released after showing no symptoms, but the Assam government had tested only seven of this group, health department sources added.

The Assam government, which had earlier closed its borders to foreigners and even restricted Indian citizens from other parts of the country, had listed five steps to outline its fight against the virus.

These steps include a staggered roster for government employees (50 per cent will work from home), strict social distancing measures and stamping of all passengers arriving through any transport.

The government has also said it will send $2,000 to all Assamese stranded abroad for over 30 days.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the country crossed 300 on Saturday, after two consecutive days of spikes in the number of reported infections; 63 cases were recorded on Friday and 79 on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a woman in Pune and a man in Bengal, neither of whom has any history of foreign travel, tested positive for the virus as well, signalling a worrying trend.

Their cases may indicate India has entered Stage 3 in the COVID-19 outbreak, in which community transmission occurs and exponential growth in infected cases is expected. This coronavirus result from Assam, on the face of it, would appear to be a similar case.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a "Janata (public) curfew" from 7 am to 9 pm today in a bid to stop the chain of transmission. Most public transport - including trains and metros - will not run and all shops excluding pharmacies and grocery stores will be closed.

The COVID-19 pandemic originated in China's Wuhan district in December last year and has infected over 2.3 lakh people so far, with the global death toll nearing 10,000. In India the deaths of at least four people have been linked to the virus.

(With input from PTI)