Jorhat youth clicks selfies with friends at wedding; tests Covid-19 positive days later

Guwahati: At a time when society has hit panic mode due to the outbreak of the coronavirus and maintenance of distance has become an oft-repeated mantra, a youth from Jorhat attended a wedding party and rubbing shoulders with other guests, took several 'selfies'. On Saturday, it came to light that the youth is Covid-19 positive.

The youth in question, who happens to be a resident of bylane number 1 of Sonari Gaon, reportedly fell sick a few days back and visited the Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH) where he was confirmed as a carrier of the virus after tests were conducted.

The youth's corona-positive status has created a situation of hue-and-cry in his village, as he had visited a wedding party on June 16 where he clicked several pictures with his chums, in open defiance of the Government-prescribed social distancing norms.

The Jorhat authorities, springing into action on Sunday, sealed off the area surrounding his residence to arrest a possible spread of the virus. At the same time, contact tracing was initiated to identify the people that the infected youth interacted with. According to reports, several contacts have been identified and their samples have been taken for testing.

On May 31, the Union Government released a set of guidelines for the 'unlock' phase of the country, as per which, weddings can be held with a maximum of 50 guests and funerals with 20 people in attendance.

Assam has so far reported cases 5,586 cases of the Covid-19 so far, out of which 2,190 cases are active. Although 9 deaths have been confirmed officially, Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the number is expected to rise in the evening. "A 10th casualty will occur in the evening. We are waiting for a confirmation, but the number of casualties in Assam can tentatively be counted as 10", he told media.

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