Tripura

Chennai ambulance driver tests positive in Tripura, hospitalized in Siliguri

April 30, 2020 at 6.26 PM

 With the report of Covid-19 positive in the test in Tripura, West Bengal government has started treatment of an ambulance driver hails from Tamil Nadu last night at Siliguri.

He was asymptomatic and quite fine. However, his companion driver of the same vehicle was found negative.

According to report, two families of South Tripura had hired the ambulance from Chennai to return back home who had gone of treatment last month. The ambulance had dropped three passengers in Udaipur of Gomati district and two in Shantirbazar of South Tripura on April 27 night. The vehicle had returned the next day and drivers spent a night in a hotel somewhere outside the city. As per the protocol, health team collected sample from all five passengers and two drivers on April 28 morning and the test report came last night indicated six of them were negative and a driver got infested with coronavirus.

The state health officials immediately contacted with their West Bengal counterpart and traced the ambulance on national highway at Alipurduar. Immediately, he was shifted to a covid hospital in Siliguri and his companion was put into institutional quarantine there. Similarly, all five passengers were taken to institutional quarantine at night in respective locations though they were found negative in first test.

“We shall collect their swab again today to reconfirm the test. The staff and other people including a few policemen were taken to quarantine who had come to the contact of the infected driver but yet to identify the place of his night halt. There is no point of concern for Tripura as of now because the person left the state and all the passengers were tested negative,” officials stated.

It is estimated that about 30,000 people of Tripura have been stranded in different states due to lockdown. However, most of the patients were stranded in Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Besides, the students, migrant labourers and professionals were stranded in Delhi, Pune, Bangaluru, Kota, Odisha, and West Bengal. Following the guidelines of union home ministry, Tripura government allowed their travel to the state at their own cost but follow the mandatory provisions, said additional chief secretary holding the charge of health S K Rakesh.

The positive case from an outside driver has increased concern for the state and Mr Rakesh indicated that the state government would bring some modifications in the rule for travel. He informed as many as 401 including 364 truck drivers have entered Tripura by road via Churaibari yesterday and all of them were checked as per protocol. Though drivers were allowed for restricted movement and unload the vehicles with all precautions, 37 passengers who arrived yesterday were sent to facility quarantine and samples were collected. They will be sent to home quarantine if they come negative in the test and until they will remain in quarantine in North Tripura, he stated. (UNI)