Guwahati, Mar 21 (UNI) The first case of coronavirus infection was reported in Assam when a four-year-old girl, who had traveled from Bihar, tested positive for the virus at Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH) on Saturday.
Jorhat Deputy Commissioner Roshni Korati informed that the test run at JMCH laboratory has tested positive, and the sample has been sent to Regional Medical Research Center (RMRC) at Lahowal in Dibrugarh for re-check.
The girl, who had come from Bihar with her mother and her elder sister on March 19 by train, were admitted to JMCH the next day, as the girl exhibited symptoms.
"The case is from Pulibor (near Jorhat town), of a 4.5-yrs-old child who came from Bihar. The girl, her sister and her mother came to Jorhat on March 19. ASHA, ANM and MPW (Health Department workers) visited the family on 20th and brought them to JMCH as the girl exhibited symptoms. A sample was taken and tested and today evening, the result had come," Korati said.
"We have started contact tracing. Everybody is being placed under home isolation, including the ASHA, etc. The family has been shifted to JMCH isolation ward," she added.
Prof. Hiranya Kumar Goswami of Assam Medical College and Hospital at Dibrugarh confirmed that the sample has been sent for recheck at RMRC.
He said, "The laboratory has received the sample and by tomorrow morning, around 10-11 AM, we will get the result."
Sources at JMCH said the sample of the girl has tested positive for Corona Virus Infection Disease (COVID), but the results from Lahowal laboratory will further confirm whether the strain is COVID-19 or not.
Meanwhile, state Health Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma told reporters in Guwahati that vigil was being kept in the area where the patient was staying. "We are keeping tab on who the family came into contact with", he said.
He also appealed the people to make tomorrow's Janta Curfew a success for the sake of defeating the virus.
UNI ABI-SG JAL 2317