Agartala, (Samajweekly) Seventeen more BSF troopers on Saturday tested positive for coronavirus, raising the total number of such cases among paramilitary jawans and their kin in Tripura to 132 in past eight days, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said.
Deb, who also holds the health portfolio, tweeted that the 17 new cases were found in the BSF’s 86th Battalion headquartered in Ambassa, the district headquarters of Dhalai, 82 km north of Agartala.
The Chief Minister said that no civilian living near the BSF Battalion headquarters was found positive yet.
According to Tripura’s health officials, headquarters of 86th and 138th Battalions at Ambassa were earlier declared “Red Zone” by the Health Ministry.
The 132 positive cases included 121 BSF men of the two battalions and 11 family members — five children and six women.
“Most of the infected persons are now under treatment at (state-run) Govind Ballabh Pant Medical College and Hospital, a dedicated Covid-19 hospital,” the officials said.
While briefing the media, Education and Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath said that the Tripura government has arranged additional facilities for symptomatic and asymptomatic coronairus patients.
“The state government will follow revised COVID-19 guidelines issued by the Health Ministry,” Nath said.
