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Tripura CM says Covid-19 spread among BSF for violating social distancing and quarantine norms
Out of the 319 Covid-19 cases in Tripura till Monday, 166 were found among BSF personnel and their families in the 138th and 86th battalions in the state.
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Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said on Monday that Covid -19 spread among Border Security Force (BSF) personnel and their families in the state because they violated social distancing..
Out of the 319 Covid-19 cases in the state till Monday, as many as 166 were found among BSF personnel and their families in the 138th and 86th battalions in Tripura.
Soon after the outbreak of the virus in the two BSF battalions, Tripura asked BSF inspector general Solomon Kumar Minz to submit a report regarding reason for spreading of the disease in a week. But they are yet to submit the report.
Later, the state government requested the National Centre for Disease Control ( NCDC) to investigate the matter.
Accordingly, a three-member central team from North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS), Shillong visited the state to investigate the source of the outbreak among the BSF personnel.
After visiting the affected areas including the BSF camps in the state, the team submitted the report to the state government on Sunday.
“ We got the report and forwarded the same to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs. During investigation, the central team observed that many BSF personnel had travel history and they returned to the state after their leave in February and March. Still, they didn’t maintain social distancing and quarantine norms. Even their samples should have been collected and tested on the basis of 1:10 ratio, if it was not possible on the basis of 1:5 ratio. If this was done that time, the disease would not have spread among the BSF and their families at such high rate,” Deb told reporters at his official residence.
Out of the tally of 319 Covid-19 cases, 173 have recovered. Many of the BSF jawans were also released from isolation wards.
“ We are taking initiatives to test all people who are returning to the state. I have visited certain villages to see the situation at the quarantine facilities. I have seen people are much aware of the quarantine and social distancing norms ,especially in villages,” the CM.
After spread of the disease, the BSF suspended all physical activities and other gatherings. They even stopped interaction between the BSF and the civilians outside their camps, said one senior BSF official on the condition of anonymity.
However, he did not comment on the Chief Minister’s statement that the BSF was yet to submit a report on how the disease spread so fast among the force..
