Northeast offers hope in COVID-19 fight; Tripura, Manipur & Arunachal Pradesh coronavirus cases test negative now

After Goa, all persons infected by coronavirus in three Northeastern states have fully recovered offering some reprieve to the government as well as the frontline health workers fighting the deadly virus.

Five people, who tested positive for COVID-19 in Tripura, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh, have tested negative in the past one week while 27 of the 34 positive persons in Assam have also been discharged from hospitals after their recovery.

For latest updates and live news on coronavirus, click here

All 12 positive people in Meghalaya, however, are still in a hospital. Nagaland and Mizoram at present have one positive person each.

Two persons, including a medical student, who tested positive in Manipur after returning from London has recovered and discharged from the hospital.
Similarly, two persons in Tripura also recovered and were similarly discharged.

CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH

"The second and last COVID-19 patient of Tripura got discharged from the hospital, where all the healthcare staffs gave him a round of applause while he was leaving. I thank all the frontline warriors for making our state coronavirus free. The fight is not over yet. I urge everyone to follow the government guidelines. Stay Home Stay Safe," Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb tweeted on Thursday.

A woman, who first tested positive on April 6 after returning from Guwahati, was found negative on April 16. A jawan of Tripura State Rifles, who tested positive later was discharged on Thursday on recovery.

CORONAVIRUS SPECIAL COVERAGE ONLY ON DH

One person, who tested positive in Arunachal Pradesh after returning from the Nizamuddin congregation also recovered.

Seven states of the Northeast have reported 52 positive cases so far, of which two died, one each in Assam and Meghalaya. In Assam, 33 of the 34 positive cases were related to the Nizamuddin congregation.

According to government officials, prompt steps to close the international borders (the region shares its 99% borders with China, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan) and early lockdown (48 hours before the nationwide lockdown) and swift quarantine of those who came back from rest of the country helped the Northeast stem the spread of the virus.

"The root of whatever success we have achieved so far is that we managed to put all who came back from outside into quarantine quickly. We could also identify those who returned from Nizamuddin and their contacts into institutional quarantine. The recent positive cases were all from those who are into institutional quarantine. But if someone tests positive from a village or a town tomorrow, we will have to rethink our strategy," Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati on Saturday.