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Covid-19 cases in northeast reach 50; two deaths, 12 recoveries reported

With 35 coronavirus cases, Assam has the most number of Covid-19 patients among the seven northeast states.

Updated on: Apr 18, 2020, 08:36:02 IST
Hindustan Times, Guwahati | By
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Since the detection of the first case in Manipur on March 24, when a 23-year-old student who had returned from the UK was found positive, the number of Covid-19 cases in the seven states in the northeast has now risen to 50.

Assam Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (3rd from right) interacts with people who were being discharged after recovering from COVID-19, in Golaghat, Friday, April 17, 2020. (PTI)
Assam Health and Family Welfare Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma (3rd from right) interacts with people who were being discharged after recovering from COVID-19, in Golaghat, Friday, April 17, 2020. (PTI)

Assam with 35 cases has the most number of patients of the coronavirus disease. The state had its first case on March 31.

Apart from a Guwahati businessman and a person from Nagaland’s Dimapur, who got tested in Assam and is under treatment in Guwahati, all other cases in Assam have links with the Tablighi Jamaat gathering at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi last month.

A 65-year-old patient died at the Silchar Medical College Hospital last week, making him Assam as well as the region’s first fatality. Till Friday, nine patients who have recovered from the disease have been discharged from three different hospitals while 25 others are under treatment.

Also read: After lockdown, Covid-19 case doubling rate dipped from 3 to 6.2 days, says govt

Manipur’s first patient has recovered and been discharged from hospital. The only other patient in the state who had attended the Nizamuddin Markaz last month is still undergoing treatment in Imphal.

Mizoram was the second state in the region to record a Covid-19 case with a 50-year-old pastor who had returned from the Netherlands last month testing positive. No other case has surfaced in the state this month.

In Tripura, the first positive case was a Nizamuddin Markaz attendee followed by a 45-year-old woman who had visited Guwahati. She has since recovered while the first patient is still in the hospital.

Arunachal Pradesh has recorded just one case till date and the patient also has links with the Nizamuddin Markaz. Results of his third and fourth tests have come negative and he was discharged from the hospital on Friday evening.

A businessman from Dimapur was recorded as Nagaland’s first positive case this Sunday. But since he was tested in Guwahati and is undergoing treatment here, he has been included in Assam’s tally by the Union ministry of health and family welfare. The state has now gone from one to zero cases.

Meghalaya was the last state in the region to join the list with a 69-year-old Shillong doctor testing positive on Monday.

Also read: Meghalaya’s first Covid-19 patient dies, could have got infected from asymptomatic son-in-law

He died on Wednesday but eight other members of his family, including his helpers, have been detected positive since. The state has nine Covid-19 cases, the second-highest in the northeast.

  • Utpal Parashar
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Utpal Parashar

    A seasoned senior journalist, I have nearly three decades of experience across print, digital, and online platforms, covering political transitions, insurgencies, environmental issues, and development stories in India and Nepal. I am skilled in breaking news, leading editorial teams and launch of newspaper editions. I am adept at leveraging digital trends and social media to expand global reach, with a strong ethical foundation and a reputation for impactful journalism. An alumnus of Asian College of Journalism, I joined Hindustan Times in New Delhi as a trainee reporter in May 1997. Over the years, I have been posted in Dehradun, Kathmandu (Nepal) and Guwahati. Currently, as Senior Assistant Editor at Hindustan Times, I lead a team reporting on India’s northeastern states. My work involves in-depth analysis, and engaging multimedia storytelling across formats, including text, photo, video, and interactive content. I am skilled in producing timely, shareable content, leveraging digital platforms and social media to engage global audiences. Throughout my career with the Hindustan Times, I have led diverse editorial teams, designed capacity-building activities, and supported reporters in developing strong story ideas, ethical reporting practices, digital skills, and fact-checking techniques. As Senior Assistant Editor for Northeast India, I have been responsible for guiding correspondents through complex political, humanitarian, and community-level stories using multimedia formats. Earlier, as Foreign Correspondent in Nepal, I produced extensive reporting during Nepal’s democratic transition and the 2015 earthquake and its aftermath.Read More

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