A Correspondent
Goalpara: Panic spread overnight across the district as State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma early on Wednesday morning declared through his Twitter account that at least three persons had tested COVID-19 positive in Goalpara district. The tweet came at 12:15 am and immediately went viral in social media. The three have been identified as Khobiruddin Rahman (41), Yusuf Ali (17) and Shahjahan Ali (60). Among the three, the first two returned home from Delhi’s Nizamuddin religious congregation on March 20. The third had spent three days in a local mosque with the duo.
“There were six members in our team. Four directly went home and we two stayed for three days in a local mosque. On March 21, we approached the health department and underwent corona test. The other four are also under quarantine. There is no question of hiding anything from the government,” said one of the COVID-19 positive patients over phone.
The district administration first admitted them at Goalpara Urban Hospital based at Moilaputa and after they tested positive, they were shifted to the isolation ward developed specially for corona patients in Goalpara Civil Hospital at Bhalukdubi.
“All the identified family members of the pilgrims who have returned have been kept in isolation and under strict observation,” said Dr Nilmadhav Das, Joint Director of Health Services. Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Varnali Deka has appealed to the people of the district not to panic and to stay indoors and cooperate with the district administration.
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