india

Updated: Apr 30, 2020 18:21 IST

Assam government on Thursday declared Bongaigaon district as a Red Zone after four new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) positive cases, including two healthcare workers, were reported, as the overall tally in the state rose to 41.

The two healthcare employees, who have tested Covid-19 positive, are a sample collector and a sanitation worker.

The state health department officials are worried about these four new Covid-19 positive cases because none of them had any recent travel or contact history with any of the patients.

“Three of the four new cases are from Bongaigaon town. Bongaigaon district has been declared a Red Zone, as it has reported five new Covid-19 positive cases this week,” said state health minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

“We want the support of the people of the district because none of the four new cases have had any contact history with any known patient. Their swab samples were tested after they had shown symptoms of fever,” he added.

Sarma said an investigation would be initiated on how the four patients contracted SARS-CoV-2 that causes the disease. All of them have been shifted to Mahendra Mohan Chowdhury Hospital (MMCH) in Guwahati for treatment.

“People in Bongaigaon need to be very careful. However, I’d not call it a community transmission. We’ll soon know if these patients met with someone who came from outside the state,” said Sarma.

All relaxations, which were earlier allowed in Bongaigaon despite the ongoing nationwide lockdown restrictions, have ceased to exist after the state government declared the district a Red Zone. Inter-district travel has been stopped and standalone shops in rural areas have been asked to shut down.

All those, who came in contact with these four new Covid-19 patients, are being traced and put in institutional quarantine.

Earlier, on Tuesday, a 16-year-old girl from Bongaigaon had also tested positive. Bongaigaon joined the other five of the state’s 33 districts— Dhubri, Morigaon, Golaghat, Nalbari, and Goalpara — that were declared as Red Zones.

Assam had reported 37 Covid-19 positive cases till Wednesday of which 36 had direct or indirect links with those who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat’s international congregation at Nizamuddin in New Delhi held between March 13 and 15.

A Guwahati-based businessman, who had tested Covid-19 positive, had no contact history with any known Jamaat attendees or their contacts.

Of the 41 Covid-19 positive cases in Assam, 29 have recovered, 11 are still undergoing treatment, and one person, a Jamaat meet attendee, had died.